Sorry sorry SORRY (sorry!) I havent been corresponding in a while via ye olde aether interossiter (Q: which colorful 50's sci fi flick has this this dubious piece of techno-bling as it's central McGuffin--in Hitchockian parlance--along with an alien named after an Ivy league prep school? Correct answers to gary@..., the first winning entry will receive mmm, uh, a trip to Miami! well maybe not that, but the next best thing-- a copy of my so-far-out-a train-don't-go-there (beyond Miami) some bizzare discus "Beyond the Pale--Gary Lucas Vs. The Dark Poets")...

I know I know the phones have been ringing off the hook here, fans demanding a new timely word spew/account of comings and goings written with my usual sippydeedoodahgonzodog alacrity alas and alack (true confession: palling around with democratic fellows named Mac is mighty fun sometimes, but generally speaking I would much rather be movings my fingers over my guitar strings than a computer keyboard), but today being the 4th of July and Caroline is sleeping and it's quiet as hell out on the deserted West Village Streets where I just returned from picking up my am essentials (papers and coffee) it's as good a day as ever there was to play pass the catchup before the smoky miasma of charred meats sizzling on rooftop bbqs begins to waft through my window, a pleasant distraction yes but a distraction nonetheless from the serious bizness of re-cherchezing la temps perdu, various disjecta membra, odds and ends, odds and ends, lost Time's not found again (unless it's in a used magazine store)...

Okay for starters, just returned from London with Caroline after quite a fine week's sojourn in England's green and pleasant land, ostensibly to visit with Caroline's mum, whixch was nice...highpoint of the trip though had to be the fabulous Russian party last Saturday night at the stately old Victoria and Albert Museum just down the road a piece from the Royal Albert Hall, our friend lovely Yuliana Galitskaya invited us along with her new American New York expat boyfriend Alex, a great guy, long may they wave-- the art-encrusted glittering central hall of the V&A (they had a Mary Wilson of The Supremes memorabilia fest going on there) was the setting for a glowing high-style bacchanale feting the launch of the new Russian luxury high-end magazine "Snob" (of which subset I am not...hey we just ligged along as a guest of Yuliana)--kind of like "Country Life" crossed with "Queen", Russki style, perfect for up and coming young oligarchs), magazine had apparently rented-out the V&A for the launch-- in any case, a really beautiful, handsome and very glammed-up assortment of Russian women and men were present from all over the world, the magnums of champagne flowed endlessly, the canapes kept coming on silver trays, one delicacy more delicious than the next, crunchy frogs, lark's tongue in aspic, chocolate covered bees, you name it, and I had several quite unexpected happy encounters/reunions with folks like my pal Sasha Cheparukhin, the legendary larger-than-life Russian new music promoter who's helped put me on concert stages in Moscow and Saint Petersburg 4 or 5 times now...also Julian Opie's favorite portrait subject Garry Cobain, my old pal from the Future Sound of London who I hadn't seen since we'd toured together Down Under a couple years ago , and who's relocated to France recently with his girlfriend Diane, great to see them both, they showed us photos of their cute new baby...also my pal the bearded intellectual music writer and critic/broadcaster for the BBC Russian Service Alexander Kan, who has run profiles on my work there and who recently remarried and has a new book coming out soon about the Russian underground music scene...also dapper Joe Boyd, the legendary producer of Nick Drake, Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne", my favorites the Incredible String Band, plus Fairport Convention and so many other great artistes, who is currebtly working on the follow-up to his must-read autobiography "White Bicycles", this next volume to be dedicated to the subject of world music...and last but not least, my old friend Lu Edmonds, world music maven, cool guy, and all around great musician whose career has stretched from stints playing with the Sex Pistols, The Damned, and The Mekons as well as recent world music projects with folks like Ben Mandelson, and whom I last saw 18 years ago hanging out in his flat in Brixton with The Mekons' Susie Honeyman, I knew I recognized Luy once I spotted his unforgettable hawk-like profile at this V&A gala...

it was quite a night, really-- musical entertainment was by Zemfira, a fiery whirlwind of a female singer dressed all in black, who had the pale intensity and luminous punk energy of a Russian Patti Smith, and whom Sasha claimed was the "5th most popular Russian after Putin" (!) ...the acoustics were lousy, and her band's catchy arrangements were sadly reduced to a muddy thud, but Zemfira was great, check the video of her song "Traffic" here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTSRZom8tw)...

Afterward Zemfira performed, many of the guests repaired to the central V&A courtyard to party hearty along the perimeter of its ghostly moon-lit outdoor pool, which shimmered with the reflections of the imposing Victorian Gothic museum buildings festooned with friezes and white marble sculptures which surround the courtyard ... a Russian dj played midnight chill-out grooves (many Exotica Records sides, no doubt) as we got happily sloshed on vodka-flavored jello served up in paper cups by the endlessly circulating waiters...

We then cabbed it down to Cheyney Walk on the Thames off the King's Road in Chelsea, where our friends John and Anne were hosting a party on their merry houseboat, the tide was out so the boat lay tilted slightly askew at a near 45 degree angle on the rocks and gravel below the hull, perfect for our ownslightly askew condition, I picked up an old acoustic and jammed with the Celtic music makers present (a glorious fiddle player and a raucous vocalist improvising madly) and then I attacked the acoustic guitar solo for a half hour or so while Sasha who was at this point sprawled horizontal on the floor thumped his bongo playing hand on the wooden deck in time with me while the improvising male vocalist and I duetted on some fierce off the cuff acoustic music... Caroline and I made it back to our beloved Swiss Cottage hotel around 4am--truly a wild wild night...

Lessee now, peering back over the misty glowing coals of memory, had a fauz birthday party on June 19th at the fabulous West Village boite the Cafe Loup where it turns out our favorite Runyonesque raconteur maitre d Phillip, late of the recently gutted and sadly disfigured West Village landmark bistro The Sazerac House, has providentially relocated...Knowledge Brother Bob Strano was there, as were cine-scribes/editors Glenn Kenny and Richard Porton, Pakistani pistol Shaista Husain and her guy comic book magnate Gus Parakas, the "Medicis of Larchmont" Steve and Ruthie Hendel (who just copped mucho Tony Awards by proxy as backers of "In the Heights" and "Passing Strange")...

Next night I had an actual birthday gig on Friday night June 20th at the Bowery Poetry Club where Gods and Monsters had one of the best damn shows, special guest poet emeritus and BPC proprietor Bob Holman got down and dirty jamming with me (see photos herein), Felice Rosser tore it up on "Shadow Man", she was joined by Chinese rock guitarist Fang Ke for our finale of Burning Spear's "Foggy Road" at the end, (I love this song, and check out this clip of me performing it solo on Czech national tv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTSRZom8tw)--part of the 126 plus clips (with more on the way) spanning various highways and byways of my career to date, up now on the OutFromUnderLive channel on Youtube (youtube.com/user/OutFromUnderLive), thanks to Paul Chisefsky for his faithful archiving and booting up of clips...inda at the Bowery Poetry house was Steve Paul, Steve and Ruth Hendel, Pakistani pistol Shaista was bus filming the proceedings as was Steve's guy Dima Dubson, so between the two of them I should have some video to show you soon...


Sunday night June 22nd my gal the brilliant and lovely French-Israeli singer/songwriter Yael Naim was in town to play Summerstage with her guy percusssionist/producer David Donatien and their crack French band, she played and sang like an angel dressed in bright yellow-- and I was so proud to sit in with her on the poignant "Shelcha" and raga-esque new hypno-groove "Man of Another Woman"--blessedly the intermittent rain that night totally tapered off by the time of her set and Yael rocked Central Park in front of an overflowing capacity crowd, who greeted every song--not just "New Soul"-- with delighted cheers, they hung on every word and melody (her new album on Tot Ou Tard/Arlantic is superb, and in top rotation at our house), she definitely had NYC in the palm of her hand that night, and had not the rather boorish sound guy interrupted her show with plug-pulling threats at 11pm, she could have easily gone on all night--and the crowd would have stayed with her, too, transfixed...

Backstage I greeted friends Anath Benais and her guy Pablo, Tot ou Tard label boss Vincent Frerebeau, French singer/songwriter Anne Warin (http://www.annewarin.com/), who had flown in from Paris specifically to cheer on Yael, and my Gods and Monsters guys Ernie Brooks and Jason Candler (who acted as my guitar tech for the night-- thanks J!)...

Opening for Yael was another friend, the UK to France expat singer/songwriter Piers Faccini, who I've written about previously here, and he was in excellent form, strumming up a storm and singing some compelling new songs...the next night I joined Piers at the Living Room down on the Lower East Side on my National steel at the ungodly early hour of 7pm--but the house was full, including some new fans he'd made at Summerstage the night before.... Check out his stuff, it's goood (http://www.myspace.com/piersfaccini)...

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of playing with Gods and Monsters at my friend DJ Mojo's birthday party at the Trash Bar in Williamsburg, we really shook 'em on down, crowd loved us too, Mojo is a great guy and I'm scheduled to do a podcast for him soon, check him at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=525182

Next up--a thrill-packed excursion by Gods and Monsters to the toppermost of the Austrian alps for the Salzkammergut Festival next Saturday July 12th, just outside Salzburg (Williamsburg, Salzburg--we play all the burgs)--

and I've got a gut feeling it's gonna be a gut one, with Katzenjammer Kinder Jerry Harrison, Billy Ficca, Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler, Joe Hendel rappelling our way up and down the slippery slopes and jamming our way into the hearts of our Ostereich bredren and sistren...

Okay, okay, Caroline is pestering me to go out to our old friend Kenny Hurwitz and Mi-Ling Tsui's barbecue now, there's more to relate

but 'twill have to wait...

See ya!

Love,

xxGary

PS My friend the Israeli pop star Ninet has our duo recording of the unreleased Gary Lucas/Jeff Buckley song "No One Must Find You Here" up now on her myspace site at
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=144487530

We recently played this song in Paris at the French Tribute to Jeff Buckley, with original Jeff Buckley bassist Mick Grondahl and his drummer...

and what can I say--

it brought the house down...

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Posted By Gary Lucas to Gary Lucas at 7/04/2008 09:44:00 AM