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

remixed, re-grooved track from the original 1996 album "The Ghosts of Prague" 

music and lyrics by Richard Mader, Pat Fulgoni and Gary Lucas

vocals--Pat Fulgoni
lead guitar, electronics--Gary Lucas
rhythm guitar--Richard "Faust" Mader
synths--Ales Vejnar

produced by Richard Mader
recorded at Faust Studios Prague

http://www.ghostsofprague.com

new album out now on CD from Faust Studio Records...vinyl coming soon

painting: "Playing in the Waves" by Arnold Böcklin 

Whore and Monk from Celetna Street--Gary Lucas & The Ghosts of Prague

song written by Sam Stept & Bud Green
originally recorded by Mae Questel
Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar, guitar arrangements
Sara Stiles--vocals
Joe Fiedler--trombone, group arrangements
Jeff Lederer--reeds
Michael Bates--acoustic bass
Rob Garcia--drums
Produced by Gary Lucas
Executive Producer--Bob Rubin
from the 2016 Cuneiform album "GARY LUCAS' FLEISCHEREI--MUSIC FROM MAX FLEISCHER CARTOONS"

Gary Lucas' FLEISCHEREI

"DO SOMETHING"--GARY LUCAS' FLEISCHEREI

written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher from the Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds"
arranged by Gary Lucas 
GL--1941 Gibson J-45
recorded on Gary's iPhone 8/30/22
Chez Lucas West Village NYC

God Only Knows--Gary Lucas

New vinyl 12 inch single from Wild Rumpus'  debut album
"Musical Blaze-Up" (on Bitches Brew)

Gary Lucas--guitars and fx
DJ Cosmo--keyboards, programming
Produced by Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy

(Lucas/Murphy)

Review from 
DJ Mag:
If you get turned on by gatefold sleeves (we're talking eight panel sleeves by the way), the smell of second-hand record shops and the principle of the 'reprise', then this could be for you. 
A precursor to their forthcoming album, this is DJ Cosmo & Gary Lucas in full indulgence mode.
Yep, 12 minutes of electric guitar woven into a backdrop of punchy-yet-spaced-out disco. 
The words epic, journey, and trip all apply. 
8 1/2 Stars out of 10

http://garylucas.com/www/wildr

Cloudhopping--Wild Rumpus (Gary Lucas and DJ Cosmo)

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

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)

Live in Tokyo at the Volga Club, Roppongi 3/96

Gods and Monsters East:

Gary Lucas--electric guitar
Shu Yamaichi--drums
Lloyd Love--bass
Misako Kano--electric piano


(Trad. arr. Lucas/Freddy King)

from compilation "Operators Are Standing By--Essential Gary Lucas 1988-1996"




"The Volga Boatman/The Stumble"--Gary Lucas Live in Tokyo

 "Penthouse Serenade" (Burton, Jason)
plus instrumental music taken from the original 1933 Fleischer Studios cartoon 

Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar
Sarah Stiles--vocals
Joe Fiedler--trombone and ensemble arrangement

with Jeff Lederer--reeds   Michael Sarin--drums  Rob Jost--acoustic bass

recorded at Yellow Sound Labs NYC May 2014


Betty Boop's Penthouse--Fleischerei (Gary Lucas, Sarah Stiles & Joe Fiedler)

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

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

written by Hoagy Carmichael

arr. by Gary Lucas

GL--1941 Gibson J-45

Recorded live at the Knitting Factory March 1991 by Bob Appel

from the album "Monsters from the Id (Rarities and Verities" (Rare Lumiere)

Comicosmics--Gary Lucas solo acoustic live

from the European animated tv series "Signor Rossi"

Sicura E Trac (German Italian Version)--Signor Rossi (Franco Godi)

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

recorded live at the Czech Embassy in Washington DC 11/14/2003 
on the occasion of the 14th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

commissioned by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the US Hon. Martin Palous

Gary Lucas--1926 National steel guitar

arranged by Gary Lucas

engineered and mastered by Jason Candler

from his new vinyl only album "GARY LUCAS PLAYS BOHEMIAN CLASSICS" (Faust Records) 
available in the Czech Republic and at garylucas.com http://goo.gl/tVx51


Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"--4th Movement (Allegro)

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

"In Front"--Keith Jarrett

an unreleased instrumental version we cut of "Grace", which I co-wrote with Jeff Buckley, during the "Coming Clean" album sessions in 2005
Gary Lucas--guitars
Ernie Brooks--bass
Jonathan Kane-drums
recorded and mixed by Sascha Von Oertzen at the old Knitting Factory on Leonard Street NYC
Perfect for karaoke:
There's the moon asking to stay
Long enough for the clouds to fly me away
Oh, it's my time coming, I'm not afraid, afraid to die
My fading voice sings of love
But she cries to the clicking of time
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
The Fire
And she weeps on my arm
Walking to the bright lights in sorrow
Oh, drink a bit of wine we both might go tomorrow
Oh, my love
And the rain is falling and I believe
My time has come
It reminds me of the pain I might leave
Leave behind
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
The Fire
Oh
Ooh, ooh, ah
And I feel them drown my name
So easy to know
And forget with this kiss
I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow
Wait in the fire
Wait in the fire, wait in the fire
Wait in the fire
Wai-wai-wait 
Wait in the fire, wait in the fire
Wait
(Jeff Buckley / Gary Lucas)

Gary Lucas

Grace (instrumental version)--Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters

music by Don Van Vliet

from the F 'N' B album "Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind" (Cuneiform)

Gary Lucas--guitar, guitar arrangements
Philip Johnston--alto sax, band arrangements
Joe Fiedler--trombone
Rob Henke--trumpet
Dave Sewelson--baritone sax
Jesse Krakow--bass
Richard Dworkin--drums

recorded by Jason Candler at Loho Studios NYC


Suction Prints-Fast 'N' Bulbous featuring Gary Lucas & Phillip Johnston

Live at Merkin Hall NYC 10/6/2005 at a Tribute to Steve Lacy
organized by Roswell Rudd

Gary Lucas--1926 National Steel bottleneck



arr. Lucas

Steve Lacy's "Bone"--Gary Lucas

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

Part one of a phone interview with Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) conducted by Gary Lucas over Yale's radio station WYBC FM on Jan. 18th 1972, prior to Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's performance at Yale University's Woolsey Hall on Jan. 21st 1972. Lucas was Music Director of WYBC at the time, and had seen Beefheart's first gig in NYC at Ungano's in NYC the year before, a show which changed his life--as after witnessing that concert Lucas vowed that if he ever did anything in music professionally, his number one priority would be to join Beefheart's Magic Band--which he eventually did in 1980. This interview was conducted while Don Van Vliet and his band were on tour in the US and had a day off in Boston, before a swing through the Northeast, which would bring them to play at Woolsey Hall. This was the very first time Gary Lucas had ever spoken with Van Vliet, who he was soon to meet and hang out with when Beefheart and the Magic Band came up to Yale to play 3 days later.

Captain Beefheart Interview with Gary Lucas on WYBC FM 1/18/72 part one

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

Monsters From the Id (Rarities and Verities)

Woke Up This Morning (Theme from "The Sopranos" (Live) [feat. Alabama 3]

theme from the 1981 film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
starring Hanna Schygulla and Gincarlo Giannini
Music by Peer Raben
song written by Hans Liep and Norbert Schultze

gary@garylucas.com

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