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John Lurie

 
Artist: John Lurie
John Lurie

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Performed Songs By:

Calvin Weston, Billy Martin

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  • Born: December 14, 1952, Minneapolis, MN
  • Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Sax (Alto)
  • Representative Albums: "African Swim and Manny & Lo," "Fishing with John," "Down by Law/Variety"

Biography

Musician, actor and hipster icon John Lurie was born in Minneapolis but raised in Worcester, MA. As a teen he played the harmonica, even bluffing his way onstage to back the likes of Canned Heat and John Lee Hooker; later he adopted the alto saxophone, and upon moving to New York City he and pianist brother Evan formed the fake-jazz combo the Lounge Lizards in 1978. Emerging from the downtown no-wave scene, the group channeled numerous influences -- punk, funk, film music, and worldbeat -- to create an irreverent, brash jazz sound which over time shed its ironic posturing to achieve a kind of transcendent cool. Their public notoriety was expanded greatly thanks to Lurie's collaboration with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, which began with 1982's Permanent Vacation. 1984's Stranger than Paradise launched Jarmusch to the forefront of American independent filmmaking, and it made Lurie -- who not only scored the film but also starred -- a cult favorite. Subsequent appearances in films as diverse as Down by Law, Desperately Seeking Susan, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Wild at Heart further established his credentials as a character actor, but still music remained his primary pursuit, and in addition to Lounge Lizards albums including 1986's superb Big Heart: Live in Tokyo and 1989's Voice of Chunk (direct-marketed via a TV commercial and 800 number) he also scored pictures like Blue in the Face, Manny & Lo and Clay Pigeons, even scoring a Grammy nomination for his work on the 1985 hit Get Shorty. In addition to forming his own record label -- the aptly named Strange & Beautiful imprint -- Lurie also hosted his own television series, the cult-classic Fishing with John. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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Actor: John Lurie
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  • Born: 1952 in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Occupation: Actor, Director
  • Active: '80s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Stranger Than Paradise, Get Shorty, Mystery Train
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Offenders (1980)

Biography

Actor/composer John Lurie began his career studying the alto saxophone, then moved to New York with his brother, pianist Evan Lurie; they formed the Lounge Lizards, a freeform jazz combo that went on to gain some distinction. Beginning in 1977 he directed and appeared in his own Super-8 films, and also acted in many New York-made Super-8 films by other filmmakers. In 1980 he began scoring numerous films, most importantly Jim Jarmusch's first feature-length film, Permanent Vacation (1982), in which he also appeared. This began a significant association with Jarmusch; Lurie co-starred in Jarmusch's breakthrough film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), provided the music, and has acted in and/or scored other of Jarmusch's films as well. His work with Jarmusch brought him to the attention of other directors, and he has appeared in a handful of movies while maintaining his work as a screen composer. ~ All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: John Lurie
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John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American actor, musician, painter and producer.

Contents

Biography

Lurie was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, moved to New Orleans at the age of 6, then moved again to Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 1978 he formed The Lounge Lizards, initially a "fake jazz" combo, with his brother Evan Lurie. The Lounge Lizards exhibited the talent of artists such as Calvin Weston, Billy Martin, Oren Bloedow, Steve Bernstein, Marc Ribot, among others. The band continued to make music for 20 years. During this time, Lurie recorded 22 albums and composed scores for over 20 movies, the most notable being Stranger than Paradise, Down by Law, Mystery Train, Clay Pigeons, Animal Factory, and Get Shorty, which earned him a Grammy nomination.

During the 1980s he starred in a number of films directed by Jim Jarmusch, namely Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, and Permanent Vacation. He went on to have roles in other notable films including Paris, Texas and The Last Temptation of Christ. Lurie also starred, during 2001-2003, on the HBO prison series Oz as inmate Greg Penders.

His 1991 TV series Fishing with John, which he wrote, directed and starred in, was a cult success.[citation needed] The critically acclaimed series aired on IFC and Bravo. Episodes included guests Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon, Jim Jarmusch and Dennis Hopper. It has since been released on DVD by Criterion.

In 1999 Lurie released the album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac - Greatest Hits, which was purportedly a posthumous collection of the work of an insane African-Jewish musician named Marvin Pontiac (1932-1977). Pontiac, however, was a fictional character, [1] and the music was actually written by Lurie, and performed by Lurie,John Medeski, Billy Martin, G. Calvin Weston, Marc Ribot, and Tony Scherr.[2] The album included praise from David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, and others, who were in on the joke, and a fictional "biography" was published in Allmusic.com[3]

In a 2006 interview, Lurie said that he had been in ill health since the mid- to late 1990s, with a number of neurological symptoms, "sort of like malaria", but that he is "90% certain that it is advanced Lyme disease. [4] Lurie said that his illness has kept him from acting or performing music, and that he spends most of his time in his apartment, painting.

Painting

For the last four years, Lurie has been exhibiting his paintings, and credits painting with "saving his life",[4] referring to his illnesses and seclusion.

In spring 2004, he had his first exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, New York. Within 10 minutes of the opening night, all the pieces were sold.[citation needed] His subsequent exhibitions at Galerie Daniel Blau in Munich; Galerie Lelong in Zürich and Galerie Gabriel Rolt in Amsterdam were all met with equal success.[citation needed] Lurie was represented at the Basel International Art Fair in June 2005, 2006 and will be again this year. In January 2005, Lurie exhibited his second show in New York at Roebling Hall’s new Chelsea location. On 30 April 2006, Lurie opened his first solo museum show at P.S.1. Contemporary Arts Center, New York. In 2007 Lurie’s work was showcased at The Montreal Museum of Fine Art.[5]

Lurie continues to exhibit in domestic and international venues in 2008. A collection of work was displayed at the NEXT Art Fair Chicago and Lurie’s work will be exhibited at the Mudam Luxembourg from October through December in 2008. In addition, The Museum of Modern Art has acquired his work for their permanent collection.[citation needed]

Lurie has also made his work available to the public via two art books. In June 2006, Lurie released his first book, Learn To Draw, a compilation of black and white drawings published by Walther Konig. In May 2008, Lurie's most recent release, A Fine Example of Art, a hard cover, full color book of over 80 reproductions of his work, published by powerHouse Books, was made available at select domestic and international book stores as well as on Amazon.com.

Lurie's watercolor painting Bear Surprise achieved enormous popularity on numerous Russian websites, in an Internet phenomenon known as Preved.[6] Lurie combined text and images in unique and interesting ways creating a personal mythology that breaks down the distinctions between real experiences and the imaginary. Lurie has showed his works at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Roebling Hall, and Anton Kern gallery in New York, and Galerie Daniel Blau in Munich[7]. They were on show at the Mudam museum in Luxembourg from October 11, 2008 to December 8, 2008. John Lurie's show The Skeleton in my closet has moved back out to the garden, is on view at Fredericks & Freiser (536 W. 24th St. betw. 10th & 11th Aves.) October 10th through Saturday, November 7th, 2009.[8]

Filmography

Discography

John Lurie

  • Berlin 1991 Volume One and the Lounge Lizards (1991)
  • Men With Sticks: John Lurie National Orchestra (1993)
  • The Days with Jacques
  • The Legendary Marvin Pontiac (1999)

Lounge Lizards

  • Lounge Lizards (1981)
  • No Pain for Cakes (1986)
  • Voice of Chunk (1988)
  • Big Heart: Live in Tokyo (1986)
  • Live: 1979-1981 (1992)
  • Live in Berlin, Volume One (1992)
  • Live in Berlin, Volume Two (1993)
  • Queen of All Ears (1998)
  • Big Heart: Live in Tokyo (Import) (2004)

Soundtracks

References

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Lurie" Read more

 

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