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Street of Lost Brothers

Gary Lucas

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Album Review

Lucas' second album for John Zorn's Tzadik label continued in the same vein as the first (Busy Being Born) with one or two variations. The opening, traditional "Yigdal" is a rousing, dance-oriented number featuring Zorn on alto sax, and this is quickly followed by one of Lucas' almost-patented, intricate, and lovely solo guitar pieces, weaving various folk patterns into a delightful sonic fabric. The bulk of the album consists of further elaborations on Jewish themes (or anti-Jewish, as Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" is strained through the Lucas wringer), blues, and folk songs. The unusual cut, compared to prior releases, is the largely improvised duo with keyboardist Walter Horn. Based on a traditional Hebrew song, the pair venture into far freer territory than Lucas normally explores. Listeners who have known and enjoyed his work over the years might still admit that he gets into a series of ruts (however pleasurable); tracks like "Sh'ma" perhaps offer hope of a way out.

Customer Reviews

A Street With Many Fascinating Alleys

Street of Lost Brothers is something of a sequel to Lucas' great Busy Being Born. Again the songs manipulate and rearrange aspects of Jewish identity with humor and pathos, intellect and spidery fingers. "Mahzel Means Good Luck" is a song that lets you celebrate even as you wonder if there's a dark shroud on whispery wings just behind your shoulder. "Ride of the Valkyries" is another of Lucas' brilliant retoolings of Wagner (who knew "the Wedding March" was Wagner before Lucas recorded it and told us?), and "I Kill You for Nothing" (a Chico Marx as generous philosopher tune) is a knuckle-knotting exercise wherein Lucas reminds us of the importance of humor as a survival tool. There is much in these songs for the heart, the ears and the intellect. "Comparisons are odious," as Jack Kerouac always reminded us, but on days when I'm feeling especially odious, I would rank this album near the top of Lucas' stack---which is already a shelf higher than nearly anyone else's.

Biography

Born: 1952 in Syracuse, NY

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

When he was nine, Gary Lucas' dad suggested he take up playing the guitar. Although he followed his dad's suggestion, Lucas focused more on the French horn that he played for his elementary school band and continued to play, until getting kicked out of his high school's band. Lucas then focused wholly on the guitar, and played in various groups throughout the '60s. As a campus station music director during his second year at Yale, Lucas saw Captain Beefheart...
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Street of Lost Brothers, Gary Lucas
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