composition by Don Van Vliet a/k/a Captain Beefheart


painting: "Red Cloud Monkey"
by  Don Van Vliet

"What are we gonna do with you?"--Don Van Vliet

On the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Nov. 8th 1988, Gary Lucas ended his debut solo concert in Europe at the Berlin Jazz Festival with this original composition, which went out live on national German radio WDR
--one of the first musical commentaries on the Holocaust by a NYC Downtown avant-garde musician-- the first utterance of what came to be known as Radical Jewish Culture. The title is a play on Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht". 

After Lucas finished playing, a collective gasp went up from the packed audience--followed by a standing ovation.  The following day Gary received a rave review in the Berlin Morgenpost which commented upon his performance of this piece under the headline "Es ist Lucas!"

On the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, I am posting this historic recording.

Never Forget!

Gary Lucas
Paris
11/8/13

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2013/nov/08/kristallnacht-guardian-archive-1938

"Verklarte Kristallnacht"--Gary Lucas Live at the Berlin JazzFest 11/8/88

from the album Gary Lucas "Cinefantastique" (Northern Spy)

One of the Top 10 Roots Albums of 2013--Philadelphia Citypaper

Best Guitar Album of 2013--Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog 
http://bit.ly/1aflT4h

composed by Burt Bacharach
arranged by Gary Lucas

GL--1946 J-45 Gibson acoustic

engineered by Jason Candler at LoHo Studios, NYC
produced by Gary Lucas

Theme from "Casino Royale"--Gary Lucas solo acoustic

written by Edward Farley, Mike Riley, and Red Hodgson (1935)
arr. Lucas

Gary Lucas--1942 Gibson J-45

recorded on Gary's iPhone NYC 4/3/14

photo taken at "Bonnie Lucas: A Retrospective"
Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery NYC
3/21/14

The Music Goes Round and Around--Gary Lucas solo acoustic

from his acclaimed album "The Ordeal of Civility"
garylucas.com/www/civil

Produced by Jerry Harrison

Gary Lucas--guitars, lead vocal
Jerry Harrison--keyboards
Ernie Brooks--bass
Billy Ficca--drums
Alva Rogers--vocals
Jenni Muldaur--vocals
Jason Candler--alto sax
Joe Hendel--trombone

words and music by Gary Lucas

A track from our new album commemorating the pogrom in Jedwabne Poland July 10th 1941 in which the entire Jewish community (including my family on my mother's side) was rounded up and herded into a barn which was then torched
drawing by Cheyenne Schiavone 
http://garylucas.com/www/grfx/LETTER_FROM_JEDWABNE.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaL_uyEcaM8

"Jedwabne"--Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters

Fragments of an aborted recording session at Battery Sound NYC in 1986 which brought together fledgling rapper Mark Sinclair--today better known as the actor Vin Diesel--and avant composer/dance music maven Arthur Russell in a project midwifed by Gary Lucas, who discovered Mark Sinclair rapping and break-dancing on the streets of the West Village, and greenlighted by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Barry Feldman of Upside/Logarhythm records. 

"I'm the Man of Steel" the teenage Sinclair asserts, foreshadowing his stellar ascent as a worldwide action movie hero ("Triple XXX", "Pitch Black", and most recently the #1 box office hit "Fast Five")-- but even Diesel is no match for Arthur's crafty diabolical beats, which keep dropping "the one" out from under him, breaking up Sinclair's delivery and eventually rendering the session useless.

"It's the white part of me fucking it up!"
--Mark Sinclair at the recording session

archival tape courtesy of Gary Lucas
http://garylucas.com/www/bio
http://www.lasercave.biz/2010/01/arthur-russell-hip-hop-producer/


Second Edition--Vin Diesel vs. Arthur Russell

original song by Gary Lucas & Essra Mohawk

Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar
Essra Mohawk--vocal, percusssion

Gary and Essra will be performing together at the Zappanale in Bad Doberan Germany and the Rochefort-En-Accords Festival in France August 2011

recorded in NYC spring 2005

The Devil's Gotta Move Along--Gary Lucas and Essra Mohawk

from their celebrated 2008 album "RISHTE" 

#1 on the World Music Charts Europe

Najma--vocals, lyrics
Gary--acoustic guitar
Nitin Mitta--tabla
Alicia Svigals--violin 

(Akhtar/Lucas)

http://garylucas.com/www/ng

"Naya Dhin"--Gary Lucas & Najma Akhtar

from Kevin Coyne's album "Knocking On Your Brain"

Kevin Coyne--vocal
Gary Lucas--guitars

(Coyne/Lucas)

with Ali Neander, Tom Liwa, Willy Wagner and Ralf Gustke

recorded in Dusseldorf 1996



English Rose--Gary Lucas and Kevin Coyne

This cover of Bob Dylan's classic song was recorded live at WFMU in East Orange New Jersey on Saturday Nov. 10th 1991 on Nick Hill's "Live at the Music Faucet" show

Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar, fx
Jeff Buckley--vocals, drum, harp

Originally released on WFMU's fundraiser cd
"They Came, They Saw, They Blocked the Driveway" 1992

engineered by Irene Trudel

photo taken at Coney Island by Chris Buck 2/92

Absolutely live, no overdubs

Farewell Angelina--Gods and Monsters (Gary Lucas and Jeff Buckley)

arrangement of a Rev. Gary Davis composition by Gary Lucas

GL--1966 Guild acoustic 12-string 

recorded chez Lucas West Village NYC 11/12/23

photo: Rev. Gary Davis & Megan Ochs. Photography by Alice Ochs.

"O Glory"--Gary Lucas plays Rev. Gary Davis

recorded by David Lynch specially for Gary Lucas' 
"Beefheart Night at the Knit" 
Captain Beefheart Tribute
at the Knitting Factory NYC
April 9th 2008
special thanks to Dusty Wright

painting: "One Bent One Straight" 
by Don Van Vliet 
oil on canvas

"Pena"--composition by Don Van Vliet read by David Lynch

composed by Richard Wagner for his opera "Der Fliegende Hollander" 1843
arranged for solo electric guitar by Gary Lucas
recorded by Marc Urselli at Eastside Sound NYC

absolutely no overdubs

collage by 3XA

Fantasia on "The Flying Dutchman" Overture--Gary Lucas

Nino Rota's theme to Federico Fellini's 1973 "Amarcord" (I Remember) arranged and performed by Gary Lucas on his 1946 Gibson J-45 8/24/2024

"Amarcord"--Gary Lucas Plays Nino Rota

I read the news today oh boy...

recorded on my iPhone on an island off the coast of western France

c in a circle Gary Lucas

"Elegia"--Gary Lucas solo acoustic 9/1/24

Music to my ears: revisiting the inimitable sound of the streets of Mexico City just now with the lonesome sing-song cry of the mobile Buy/Sell Mattress Lady, ready to take those used mattresses off your hands for a song. 

Recorded out my window on Calle Sinaloa to iPhone memo 9/18/24

God is a Shout in the Street a/k/a Mexico City Blues 9/18/24

Drum and bugle procession down Calle Sinaloa in Mexico City as recorded to iPhone out my window 9/20/2024

Trumpet and drum procession along Calle Sinaloa Mexico City 9/20/24

Fantasia on the Overture to The Flying Dutchman

Recorded Live on Austrian Radio Oct. 1944

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 Finale 4th movement --Furtwängler conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Recorded live for VPRO Radio Hpolland at the Ein Abend In Wien (A Night in Vienna) Festival in Rotterdam's De Doelen  Aug. 31st 1991. Nick Cave read an excerpt from his recently published book "And the Ass Saw the Angel" accompanied by Gary Lucas on his 1921 National steel bottleneck guitar. The two had met on John Hockenberry's NPR radio show at WNYC FM in NYC a few months earlier and hit it off, with Cave then inviting Lucas to join him in Rotterdam. Other artists performing at the Ein Abend In Wien Festival in Rotterdam included Sonic Youth and the Pixies.
 The track first appeared on Gary Lucas's 2000 retrospective album "Improve the Shining Hour" (Knitting Factory Records).
Cover art by Eric Drooker
www.garylucas.com

"And The Ass Saw The Angel"--Gary Lucas & Nick Cave Live on VPRO Radio Netherlands

A track from the album THE WORLD OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (Knitting Factory) featuring Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas--a tribute to the unique world of musical visionary CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (Don Van Vliet) AND THE MAGIC BAND spanning the length and breadth of his entire oeuvre. This is a version of "I'm Glad", a song written by Don Van Vliet which is featured on the very first Captain Beefheart album "Safe as Milk", produced by Richard Perry and Bob Krasnow, which showcases Don's R&B, soul, and doo-wop roots.
Nona Hendryx--vocals
Gary Lucas--guitar
Jesse Krakow--bass
Jordan Shapiro--keyboards
Richard Dworkin--drums
Kiki Hawkins and Keith Fluitt--background vocals
Recorded by Marc Urselli at EastSide Sound NYC


"I'M GLAD"--THE WORLD OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART FEAT. NONA HENDRYX & GARY LUCAS

"She's a Rainbow" Gary Lucas solo acoustic

Maurice Jones--musc, lyrics guitars, drums, bass, vocals, production

another calipop winner from Maurice Jones (The Same, Purlie)

"You Gotta Love It"--Maurice Jones

recorded 10/8/15 on my iPhone

arr. Lucas and performed on my
1946 Gibson J-45

"Good Old Days" (Little Rascals Theme)--Gary Lucas Plays the Music of Leroy Shield

The complete soundtrack to one of the greatest cartoons in animation history

recorded in NYC in 1930 at Fleischer Studios, 1600 Broadway Manhattan

Read more about it at Classic Movie Hub: http://bit.ly/29MNY6D

View the original cartoon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usN5QLg-hcY

"Swing You Sinners"--original soundtrack to Max Fleischer's classic 1930 cartoon

Live at The Spitz, London 2006

Gary Lucas--National steel guitar
Rob Spragg a/k/a Larry Love-- vocals
Jake Black a/k/a The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love--vocals

(otherwise known as the Theme from "The Sopranos")

Woke Up This Morning--Gary Lucas and Alabama 3

An off-the-cuff spontaneous improvisation by Don Van Vliet recorded in Gary Lucas' apartment in the West Village of Manhattan the night after Don's second appearance on the David Letterman Show in July 1982.

Subjects deal with Reagan's then Secretary of the Interior James Watt... the shoddy/shady mysteries of the water works of NYC... alopecia ariata and Don's resemblance to a "de-jeweled Korla Pondit"...

and the song "Hearts Aren't That Casual"...

"Nudes with Boas Tricks" --painting by Don Van Vliet

RIP Jan. 15th 1941--Dec. 17th 2010

words and music by Don Van Vliet

"Hearts Aren't That Casual"--Don Van Vliet

recorded in New Orleans July 2008 at Piety Street Studios

absolutely live, no overdubs

engineered by Mark Bingham

Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar, vocals
Peter Stampfel--mandolin, vocals

trad., arr. Stampfel/Lucas

"Black Bottom Blues"--The Du-Tels (Gary Lucas and Peter Stampfel)

from the album "Facing You" (1971)

solo piano 

composed and performed by Keith Jarrett

"In Front"--Keith Jarrett

"Seaweed Beard Foam Bone Tree"--Don Van Vliet

Theme from "La Strada" (The Road) 
(d. Federico Fellini, 1954) composed by Nino Rota
arr. and performed by Gary Lucas 
on his 1942 Gibson J-45
recorded on his iPhone 5/27/18

photo of Giulietta Masina taken from the film

Theme from Fellini's "La Strada"--Gary Lucas solo acoustic

Jeff Buckley--voice  Gary Lucas--guitar photo   copyright Chris Buck
Recorded live Feb. 4th 1997 at the Knitting Factory 10th Anniversary Celebration in the MainSpace on Leonard Street NYC--a private party  hosted by founder Michael Dorf which gathered many Downtown performers who had helped establish the club's reputation, various journalists and celebrity friends of the club, and a large contingent of Sony Music employees who came to hear their signed artist Jeff Buckley preview songs from his projected second album which Jeff had been working on for 3 years. In the audience was Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Tom Verlaine, Lenny Kaye, WFMU's Nick Hill, and Gary Lucas, co-writer of a dozen songs with Jeff including "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", and Jeff's partner & collaborator in 1991-92 in a version of Gary's longtime band Gods and Monsters.  Here, in a move that surprised Lucas, who had been sidelined by Buckley since Buckley quit Gods and Monsters in March '92, Jeff invites Gary onstage to perform their anthem "Grace", hands him his Telecaster, and away they soar. The duo's performance brings the house down, and an elated Lucas later visits Jeff in his dressing room to thank him for inviting him onstage to play. Gary leaves the club on an upbeat note, feeling that his relationship with Jeff had turned a corner, that their creative bond was still strong, and that he still loved his old friend. A month later Jeff's Sony A&R guy informs Gary that he may be getting a call to go down to Memphis to work with Jeff on new songs, as things had not been going  well for Jeff with the second album sessions, that Jeff had dismissed his band and his producer Tom Verlaine and was struggling to write new songs by himself. Gary is intrigued by the possibility of writing new anthems with Jeff (at Jeff's invitation earlier that year, Gary had sent Jeff 3 new solo guitar instrumentals as possible new song templates, the way they had always worked on all their songs together). But wary of putting too much faith in this projected scenario, it being the fickle music biz, Gary continues to work on his own projects as usual, in the back of his mind wondering if he really will get a call to go to Memphis and work with Jeff. On Friday May 30th--Memorial Day--Gary received a call, but not the call he was hoping for. It was from a friend at MTV News informing him that Jeff was missing, and was presumed to have tragically drowned in the Mississippi River. This historic recording thus documents the last time Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas ever performed together.

The Last "Grace"--Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas at the Knitting Factory 2/4/97

a union of like-minded souls and musical sensibilities when DUO PASSIONATO, 
two Ecuadorian virtuosos of classical piano and violin, meet GARY LUCAS
at the junction of art and commerce performing a well known piece by Ecuadorian composer Gerardo Guevara. 
Piano - Sandra Durán
Violín - Martha Artola
Electric guitar - Gary Lucas
recorded and mixed by David Sisko NYC  Jan. 2013

La Toronja y el Limon--Gary Lucas with DUO PASSIONATO

recorded Aug. 16th 1991 Krypton Studios NYC
written by Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas
Gary--guitars
Jeff--voice, lyrics, harmonica
Jared Nickerson--bass
Tony Lewis--drums
engineered by Johnny Byrne
photo by Chris Buck
this version contains the infamous "hardcore coda", which was deemed too radical to include when it came time to record the definitive version for the "Grace" album at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock Fall of '93

"Mojo Pin" Studio Demo --Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas

traditional Georgian song performed by Vocal Ensemble "Gordela"
as featured on the soundtrack of Werner Herzog's 1979 film
"Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht"

taken from the 1969 Melodiya album
"Georgian Folk Songs and Dance Ensemble"

Georgian Folk Songs and Dance Ensemble

"Tsintskaro"--Ensemble Gordela

Overture to the 1982 film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
starring Rosel Zech

Music by Peer Raben

gary@garylucas.com

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