by Klaus Kinski

Doug Gillard @ Irving Plaza NYE (more by Chris Gersbeck)

I got heavily obsessed with Guided By Voices after the demise of the "classic '93 - '96 line-up" which featured Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, and Greg Demos (a line-up that reunited in 2010 and has been blazing a sweaty, beer soaked trail across the US since) (this past weekend's Sasquatch Festival included).

I've now seen the classic line-up twice thanks to the reunion, but prior to that my live experience was always delivered by Robert Pollard, Nate Farley, Doug Gillard, Kevin March, Tim Tobias and, later on, Chris Slusarenko. I often had to be rolled out of those shows in a wheelbarrow, and memories of those shows are muddied and schizophrenic, but two things I always took away from a GBV experience was A) that I had had the time of my life and B) that lead guitarist Doug Gillard was, and is, easily one of the most agile guitar gods in rock 'n roll. I mean, forget about shredding and other wanky guitar-athleticism bullshit. What Doug brings to the table is a prodigal level of rock-solid, rock guitar purity and proficiency. Doug is an absolute master of his craft, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone out there these days who can get such a thunderous onslaught from his Les Paul and his amps. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to find that your man Klaus has been following Doug's solo career with great interest and it is because of non-GBV-related Gillard news that I write to you fine people today.

On Saturday June 4th, Doug will be part of an ensemble of musicians paying tribute to Captain Beefheart at Bowery Poetry Club.

Gary Lucas (Beefheart alumni, Jeff Buckley), Nona Hendryx (Labelle, Talking Heads), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Nathan Larson (Shudder To Think), Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices), Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), & Weasel Walter (Behold The Arctopus), will be joined by musicians from the rock, jazz, metal, progressive, blues, experimental, & classical worlds to perform faithful and interpretive versions of songs from Beefheart's entire catalog, from his 1966 debut "Safe As Milk" to his final record "Ice Cream For Crow", released in 1982.

Captain Beefheart died on December 17, 2010 from complications from multiple sclerosis, so it's fitting that ALL PROCEEDS from this show (a reasonable $10) will go directly to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. If you can't make it to the show, watch the live stream. And consider donating to the MS Society.

Besides the MS/Beefheart show, there are many more opportunities to catch Doug live. Speaking of beef, on Saturday June 11th, get your non-vegan ass to the Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park at 1:00pm on Saturday June 11th. While you're feasting on various forms of carrion with gristle and BBQ sauce dribbling from your lips (editor's note: Klaus!), the band Bambi Kino will be performing. Bambi Kino features Mark Rozzo (Maplewood), Ira Elliot (Nada Surf), Doug Gillard (Ex Guided By Voices), Erik Paparazzi (Cat Power) and were formed to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles' first concerts in Hamburg Germany. Back in those days, the Beatles were essentially a cover band themselves, and Bambi Kino's setlist is culled from the Beatles' set list from back in those days. So it's like a cover band covering a cover band who were doing their own versions of the whole blues thing. And it's free! More about who's playing the Big Apple BBQ, HERE.

You can also catch Doug when he goes on tour with Tommy Keene and Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves. Doug recently wrote and recorded songs on Sally's upcoming 5-song EP "Transmit/Receive". Tommy is touring in support of his new LP, and Doug Gillard will have a new vinyl 7" he'll be promoting. The tour lands at the Rock Shop on September 10th, 2011. Complete tour dates below.

Oh, and before I forget... Doug is recording tons of guitar for the upcoming Nada Surf LP, which is due out in Fall of 2011. Look out for that as well as a tour in support of said LP. Nada Surf's Matthew Caws joined Doug on stage at Irving Plaza on New Years Eve when he opened for GBV.

Catch Guided By Voices, Wavves, and Surfer Blood during the Northside Festival on June 18th, yo.

Catch Bush Tetras (Cynthia Sley is also playing the Beefheart show) at Le Poisson Rouge on Friday, June 10th.

Gary Lucas's other upcoming shows include a July 3rd appearance at Iridium Jazz Club and a July 9th show at the Rubin Museum of Art.

Doug tour dates and the Beefheart flyer below...

Continue reading "Doug Gillard is doing stuff (Captain Beefheart show w/ Gary Lucas, Beatles band, Tommy Keene tour, Nada Surf LP)"

Founded in June 2010 the Undead Jazzfest is new kind of festival, bringing together an incredible array of artists from the new jazz and improvised music community currently exploding in New York City. With no headliners, affordable tickets, unorthodox venues and no drink minimums, the Undead Jazzfest aims to shake the public perception of what jazz can be today, celebrating the incredible music being made in a setting that is inviting to both the veterans and curious new fans.

Encompassing eleven venues over its four days (6/23 - 6/26), the Undead Jazzfest will feature appearances from more than 50 bands including names like Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Mountains and many others. The full list of participating bands is below. Four day passes are on sale for $45 until 4/28. The price increases to $50 after.

Undead Jazzfest is also responsible for curating another show outside of said festival, this one going down at Central Park Summerstage on June 11th with Medeski Martin & Wood, Josh Roseman's King Froopy All Stars and Jim Black's AlasNoAxis. It's one of many free 2011 Summerstage shows that have been announced.

AND, Undead Jazz presents a show at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (4/25) with Orchestre National de Jazz with Daniel Yvinec and John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble with special guests Theo Bleckmann , Kate McGarry and Uri Caine. Undead Jazz also presents Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors and Mary Halvorson Trio at the same venue on May 18th.

Full Undead Jazzfest 2011 lineup below.

Continue reading "Undead Jazzfest 2011 lineup announced, tix on sale now, and other related shows too"

Gary Lucas (who played a show at SXSW last night), in association with the estate of Jeff Buckley, is curating a Jeff Buckley tribute event this Friday (3/18) at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Performers include Gary Lucas, Jeffrey Lewis, Haydée Milanés, Damon Daunno, Alessio Franchini, Diana Silveira, Nicholas James, Mossa Bildner, Fay Victor, Jann Klose, Pete Pidgeon, Felice Rosser & Faith, Danielle De Luca, Villa Delirium, Marianne Nowottny, Kevin McWha Steele, and Lynda McLaughlin. The event is to benefit Road Recovery, and tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "Gary Lucas-curated Jeff Buckley tribute this Friday"

Guitarist Gary Lucas is well-known for his collaborations, which include a five-year stint with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (playing on Doc at the Radar Station and Ice Cream for Crow), co-writing songs on Jeff Buckley's Grace and many, many more.

Lucas is currently in the midst a three-day run of NYC shows (May 10th-12th). He performed his original guitar score to film Paint What You Remember at the Jewish Museum on the 10th. On the 11th, he performed the music of Tom Waits at the release party of book Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits at the Center. And his last gig is tonight, May 12th, at the Gershwin Hotel where Gary is playing the music of John Lennon at the Give Peace a Song Cabaret.

The guitarist's next big appearance is the 20th anniversary show for his psych-rock group Gods and Monsters which takes place on Thursday, June 11th at the Gramercy Theatre "with Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers) bass, Billy Ficca (Television) drums, Jason Candler (Hungry March Band) alto sax, and Joe Hendel (The Latest Show on Earth) keyboards and trombone, with special guests including Alan Vega, Lenny Kaye, Peter Stampfel, Jon Spencer, and Dean Bowman". Tickets are on sale.

Lucas' YouTube channel is massively stocked with well-shot live footage of the guitarist in a number of musical settings. Clips of Lucas with Gods with Monsters at the Bowery Poetry Club in June 2008 are posted, along with all dates, below....

Continue reading "Gods & Monsters' 20th anniversary @ The Gramercy w/ guests ++ other Gary Lucas tour dates"

The Amygdaloids

The Rock-It Science Festival will bring together eight outstanding--and noted--scientists and academics who share a second career as musicians, along with six additional performers with international exposure and a great appreciation for science.

Dr. Joseph LeDoux conceived the idea for this unique event, which serves as the closing event for the Sensation to Emotion Conference on March 2 and 3. LeDoux is a professor of neuroscience at New York University who not only has pioneered study of the brain's mechanisms for emotion and memory and is the author of The Emotional Brain and The Synaptic Self, but is also guitarist and lead vocalists of rock band The Amygdaloids, who will be performing at Rock-It Science. The Amygdaloids line-up also includes three other NYU scientists: neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, PhD candidate Nina Galbraith Curley, and Environmental Sciences professor and author Tyler Volk.

The Rock-It Science Festival will start rockin' at 6:30 p.m. on March 3 at the Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th Street in New York. Australian Go-Go dancer and variety show star Anna Copa Cabanna will emcee the event, promising an interesting and humorous evening. Rufus Wainwright will highlight an evening that will also include musician, writer and record producer Lenny Kaye, who is the long-time collaborator of poet-rocker Patti Smith.

Other guest artists at Rock-It Science include Grammy-nominated songwriter and international recording artist Gary Lucas, and Peter Holsapple, an acclaimed musician, songwriter and side man who is co-leader of the legendary dBs, and has performed extensively with R.E.M. and Hootie & The Blowfish. American folk-rock duo The Kennedys, jazz/cabaret performer Pamela Luss, acclaimed songwriter Steve Wynn (of the Dream Syndicate and the Miracle Three), and Stuart Chatwood, previously the bassist and keyboard player for platinum rock band The Tea Party, also make the Rock-It Science lineup.

Dee Snider is also on the bill. $25.00 tickets are on sale.

Rufus Wainwright performed in NJ on Friday, and has another NYC show coming up on March 4th.

Dee Snider was Santa this past Christmas.

The Db's are playing the R.E.M. tribute at Carnegie Hall in March.

More info on the Rock-It Science Festival below...

Continue reading "Rufus Wainwright, Dee Snider, NYU academics & others playing for science @ Highline Ballroom"

WNYC's long-awaited annual winter film series returns to the World Financial Center featuring classic silent films set to innovative and energetic scores by Gary Lucas, the BQE Ensemble, and The Cinematic Orchestra.

Each night, starting at 7PM, experience a different film and its inventive new music score.

On Tuesday night, Feb. 10, Gary Lucas performs ghostly improvisational solo guitar for three surrealist films: "Entr'acte", "Ballet Mecanique", and "The Cameraman's Revenge."

Wednesday evening, Feb. 11, the BQE Project's palette of exotic instruments from Middle Eastern drums to mandolin accompanies "The Golem."

And on Thursday night, Feb. 12, the Cinematic Orchestra's moody, electronica-tinged jazz-funk follows "Man with a Movie Camera."

And it's all FREE!

You can watch a video clip of Gary Lucas performing his soundtrack to the Golem, below...

Continue reading "Gary Lucas, Cinematic Orchestra & The BQE Project playing live silent movie scores in NYC this week (free)"

Gary Lucas

Lucas has played and collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley, Chris Cornell, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen. He has also worked with Mary Margaret O'Hara, Onetwo, Peter Stampfel, Fred Schneider (B-52s), Bob Neuwirth, Geoff Muldaur, John Sebastian, John Zorn, Bryan Ferry, Patti Smith, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Matthew Sweet, DJ Spooky, Damo Suzuki, Iggy Pop, Dr. John, Allen Ginsberg, Graham Parker, The Dark Poets, Future Sound of London, Van Dyke Parks, Adrian Sherwood,Richard Barone, Bob Weir, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule), Kristin Diable and many others. Jazz collaborations include Roswell Rudd, Steve Swallow, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, and Billy Bang. Some of these collaborations appear on his retrospective album Improve the Shining Hour, which also features his film and TV music for ABC News, 20/20 and Turning Point. He has produced albums for composer/saxophonists Tim Berne and Peter Gordon, and for the French avant-rock band Tanger. He co-wrote Joan Osborne's Grammy-nominated song "Spider Web" from her triple platinum album Relish.

Lucas co-wrote two of the songs, "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", from Jeff Buckley's popular and critically acclaimed album Grace. Early collaborations can also be heard on the recent Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas album Songs To No One, which charted internationally with worldwide sales approaching 100,000. [Wikipedia]

Tonight/Wednesday at Cake Shop in NYC: Gary Lucas's band Gods & Monsters, Tommy Ramone's bluegrass band Uncle Monk, and Radio I-Ching (Andy Haas) with special guest James Chance - all on sthe same bill. Lots of talent and legendary status in the basement tonight (12/3).

The show is the first in Dee Pop's returning monthly Freestyle Music Series. According to Dee Pop, who also plays in Radio I-Ching, "Freestyle does not mean Free Jazz. It means free of categories. It doesn't mean anything. It means everything.". The January 21st show will feature Brown Wing Overdrive, Sediment Club, and Mostly Others Do the Killing. The dates after that are February 25, March 25, and April 22 - all at Cake Shop. Check out an Uncle Monk video below...

Continue reading "Gary Lucas, Tommy Ramone, James Chance... tonight (the 1st edition of Freestyle Music Monthly @ Cake Shop)"