The Lounge Lizards | |
---|---|
Origin | New York City, U.S. |
Genres | Avant-garde jazz, no wave |
Years active | 1978–1998 |
Labels | EG, Europa, Antilles, Strange and Beautiful |
Past members |
The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a showcase for John Lurie's sophisticated compositions straddling jazz and many other genres. They were active until about 1998 with the Lurie brothers as the only constant members, though many leading New York City based musicians were members of the group.
The group's name was borrowed from American slang. A lounge lizard is typically depicted as a well-dressed man who frequents the establishments in which the rich gather with the intention of seducing a wealthy woman with his flattery and deceptive charm. [1]
At its founding, the band consisted of John Lurie and Evan Lurie, guitarist Arto Lindsay, bassist Steve Piccolo, and percussionist Anton Fier. Though partly inspired by jazz, John Lurie said he used guitarists in the band "to foil the music when it gets too jazzlike". [2] They released a self-titled album on EG Records in 1981 and produced by Teo Macero. The album included two Thelonious Monk covers, but as one critic noted, "the two aforementioned Monk covers seem a strange choice when you actually hear the band, which has more in common with sonic experimentalists like Ornette Coleman or Sun Ra." [3] John Lurie later said this version of the band broke up due in part to creative tensions exacerbated by conflicts with EG Records executives, and in part due to his growing belief "that what we were doing was maybe phony". [2]
A transitional version of the band for about a year in 1982-83 featured the Lurie brothers, with bassist Tony Garnier, trombonist Peter Zummo and drummer Dougie Bowne, augmented by other musicians depending on availability (e.g., bassist Fred Hopkins substituted for Garnier during a short tour). [2] This version of the Lounge Lizards did not record a studio album.
By the mid-1980s, a new line-up included bassist Erik Sanko, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, guitarist Marc Ribot, saxophonist Roy Nathanson, and percussionists Bowne and E.J. Rodriguez. This group recorded various live and studio albums and showcased John Lurie's increasingly sophisticated and multi-layered compositions. [4] John Lurie noted their music in this era was inspired by diverse sources such as "James Brown to Balinese music, from Varèse to Coltrane". [2]
The band's 1987 music video Big Heart was featured on the adult animation The Brothers Grunt .
In 1998, the band released Queen of All Ears on John Lurie's Strange and Beautiful Music label and had added Steven Bernstein, Michael Blake, Oren Bloedow, David Tronzo, Calvin Weston, and Billy Martin. "The Lizards' music isn't jazz," said Fred Bouchard of JazzTimes , "but it is intelligent and rhythmically and harmonically interesting (it ain't rock either, in other words) and, despite the ultra-hip trappings, it has an almost innocent directness that can transcend stylistic prejudice." [5]
The Lounge Lizards have been inactive since about 2000. John Lurie has been occupied with painting, [6] while Evan has worked on The Backyardigans , a children's show that highlights multiple musical genres.
John Lurie estimates about 80 musicians recorded or performed with the Lounge Lizards. [2] Performers included:
Title | Release date |
---|---|
Lounge Lizards | 1981 |
No Pain for Cakes | 1987 |
Voice of Chunk | 1988 |
Queen of All Ears | 1998 |
Title | Release date |
---|---|
Live from the Drunken Boat | 1983 |
Live 79-81 | 1985 |
Big Heart: Live in Tokyo | 1986 |
Live in Berlin 1991 Vol. I | 1991 |
Live in Berlin 1991 Vol. II | 1992 |
Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.
John Lurie is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law; has composed and performed music for 20 television and film works; and he produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series. In 1996 his soundtrack for Get Shorty was nominated for a Grammy Award, and his album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits has been praised by critics and fellow musicians.
Oren Bloedow is an American singer, guitarist and bassist. He founded the band Elysian Fields in 1995 with Jennifer Charles. His father, Jerry Bloedow, was a playwright, poet, and film editor whose theater, the Hardware Poet's Playhouse, participated in the New York avant-garde scene in the 1950s and 1960s.
Stereo Type A is the second studio album by Cibo Matto released in 1999. As the group disbanded in 2001, it was their last studio album prior to their 2011 reunion. The album peaked at number 171 on the Billboard 200, and also reached the top spot of CMJ's College charts.
The Jazz Passengers are an American jazz group founded in 1987 by saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes. Alongside musicians like John Zorn, Don Byron, and John Lurie, they are widely regarded as pioneering voices in the 1980s East Village jazz scene that centered around clubs like The Knitting Factory.
Tony Garnier is an American bassist, best known as an accompanist to Bob Dylan, with whom he has played since 1989.
Fishing with John is a 1991 television series conceived, directed by and starring actor and musician John Lurie, which earned a cult following. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: in each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a fishing expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the interaction between Lurie and his guests, all of whom are his friends. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures.
Jim Nolet is an American jazz violinist, artist, performer, and educator known internationally as a composer/improviser in world and jazz idioms. He has a particular interest in the music of Brazil. He has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Latin America.
John Zorn's Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory is an album of a performance of John Zorn's improvisational game piece, Cobra, performed at the Knitting Factory in 1992. The album resembles the missing link between John Zorn's work with Masada and Naked City. It also had a major impact on the electronic scene of New York.
Ben Perowsky is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He is the drummer on stage in the 8 TONY award winning Broadway musical Hadestown. Perowsky leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra and Upstream Trio with Chris Speed and John Medeski. He is a founding member of the electric jazz group Lost Tribe. A prolific sideman, Perowsky has performed with Roy Ayers, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Joan As Police Woman, Elysian Fields, Darryl Jenifer, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Walter Becker, Steven Bernstein., and John Zorn.
Shoe String Symphonettes is a 1997 album of film music by Marc Ribot released on Tzadik Records.
Rootless Cosmopolitans is the debut solo album by American guitarist Marc Ribot, released by Antilles in 1990.
Requiem for What's His Name is the second album by Marc Ribot & The Rootless Cosmopolitans which was released by the Belgian label Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1992.
The Lounge Lizards is the first album by the Lounge Lizards. It features hectic instrumental jazz. The songs are mostly composed by band leader and saxophone player John Lurie. The album artwork was designed by the English graphic designer Peter Saville.
John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards Live in Berlin 1991 is a 1992 documentary concert film directed and shot by Garret Linn. It was the director's first feature, and was filmed in Super16. It was shown at The Water Reade Theater in New York City and was part of the Berlin Film Festival in 1992.
Voice of Chunk is a 1988 album by jazz band the Lounge Lizards.
No Pain for Cakes is an album by the American jazz band the Lounge Lizards, released in 1987. John Lurie sang on the album.
Bradley Christopher Jones is an American jazz bassist who performs on both bass guitar and double-bass.
YRU Still Here? is a studio album by American guitarist Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog which was released in April 2018 on Northern Spy Records.
Queen of All Ears is an album by the American band the Lounge Lizards, released in 1998. It was the band's final album.