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

GL--guitars   JB--vocals, harp

Jared Michael Nickerson--bass
Tony Lewis--drums

Words and Music by Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas
Produced by Gary Lucas
Recorded at Krypton Studios NYC August 17, 1991
engineered by Johnny Byrne
special thanks to Murray Weinstock

Read the full story about the making of this track in TOUCHED BY GRACE: MY TIME WITH JEFF BUCKLEY (Jawbone Books) http://garylucas.com/www/tbg

Grace studio demo--Gary Lucas and Jeff Buckley

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

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)

 "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)

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

Music composed and performed by Gary Lucas

recorded live to iPhone on his 1941 Gibson J-45 
5/17/24 NYC

Drawing by David Scher

I'm Afraid It Will Have To Be Done Professionally--Gary Lucas solo

composed and performed by Gary Lucas 
recorded to iPhone on his 1941 Gibson J-45 acoustic 
6/12/24 NYC
watercolor and pen and ink drawing by David Scher

"That taut rope sound" was how my friend Paul Haines, the late Canadian poet and jazz lyricist ( Carla Bley's "Escalator Over the Hill" and Kip Hanrahan's "Darn It") once described my playing

"That Taut Rope Sound"--Gary Lucas

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

A rough mix of a collaboration between DOROTHY MOSKOWITZ (legendary singer of iconic American electronic psych band The United States of America, whose sole album on Columbia is a masterpiece) and GARY LUCAS
DM--vocals, lyrics, synth
GL--acoustic guitar

written by Moskowitz/Lucas

"Why Is the Night So Strange"- Dorothy Moskowitz and Gary Lucas

Music by Nino Rota from "The Temptation of Dr. Antonio" segment of the Italian comedy anthology "Boccacio '70" (1962, d. Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Mario Monicelli, and Luchino Visconti)

arranged by Gary Lucas and performed on his 1941 Gibson J-45

photo: Federico Fellini and Anita Ekberg on the set of "La Tentazioni del Dottor Antoni"

"Drink More Milk"

"La Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio" (Rota)--Gary Lucas

This medley includes the Nino Rota-composed "Drink More Milk" theme from the Fellini-directed segment of 1962 Italian romantic comedy anthology "Boccaccio '70", "La Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio"--a tale of a giant Amazonian woman (Anita Ekberg) advertising milk on a billboard in Rome come to life to bedevil a blue-nosed doctor who lives near the billboard. "Boccaccio '70" also included segments directed by Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, and Mario Monicelli. "The Temptation of Dr. Antonio", as it was titled in the US, starred the aforementioned Ekberg, fresh from her triumphal swim in the Trevi Fountain in Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". Rota's music in Fellini's segment also included some of the themes from his score for "La Dolce Vita".
Arranged and performed by Gary Lucas on his 1941 Gibson J-45 
Recorded to iPhone 8/4/24 NYC
photo: Anita Ekberg lets it all hang out in "Boccaccio '70"

Drink More Milk!

www.garylucas.com

"Boccaccio ‘70 / La Dolce Vita" (Nino Rota)--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

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

out Feb. 5th on Cuneiform Records

featuring 
                Gary Lucas--acoustic guitar
               Joe Fiedler--trombone
               Jeff Lederer--reeds
               Michael Bates--acoustic bass
               Rob Garcia--drums

written by Max Rich and Max Gordon

Produced by Gary Lucas
Executive producer Robert Melvin Rubin

"Aint'cha"--Gary Lucas' FLEISCHEREI featuring Sarah Stiles vocals

from "The Fakes Live at Your High School!!"
Gary Lucas--guitar
David Witz--vocals
Doug DiFranco a/k/a Double Dee--drums
John Klett--drums
Recorded at Clack Studios NYC summer '81
(Coulter/Scott)

I Can Only Give You Everything--The Fakes (Gary Lucas, David Witz and...)

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

the other "Walk on the Wild Side"
music by Elmer Bernstein
arranged by Gary Lucas
and performed on his 1941 Gibson J-45
from the 1962 film directed by Edward Dmytryk 
and starring Laurence Harvey, Jane Fonda, Capucine, 
Ann Baxter, and Barbara Stanwyck                                
based on the novel by Nelson Algren
recorded on my iPhone NYC 7/30/16

photo: Jane Fonda as Kitty Twist

"Walk On The Wild Side"--Gary Lucas solo acoustic

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

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

"In Front"--Keith Jarrett

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

from the excellent first album by SIREN released 1969 on John Peel's Dandelion label
featuring Kevin Coyne (vocals, acoustic guitar)
words and music by Kevin Coyne

"The band which blew the cobwebs out of my mind." Jac Holzman-Elektra Records.
"Siren just came as a breath of fresh air really, in the same way that, like a generation later The Ramones did." John Peel, 1977.
"Siren primarily played for itself." Kevin Coyne.

Strange Locomotion

"I Wonder Where"--Siren (Kevin  Coyne)

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

from the album 

"The Andrew Oldham Orchestra and Friends Play the Rolling Stones Songbook Vol. 2"
Produced by Andrew Loog Oldham

Gary Lucas--guitars
Andy Zeta--drums
Pablo Memi--bass

recorded in Bogotá Colombia 7/2009

Produced by Andrew Loog Oldham

photo: session at Pirate Cove Studios Bogotá

"Play With Fire"--Gary Lucas with The Andrew Oldham Orchestra

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

Popular tracks by gary@garylucas.com