(Le) Poisson Rouge, one of Classicalite's favorite West Village venues, has booked quite the talent for "Strange & Beautiful Festival: The Music and Art of John Lurie."
This unique hybrid fest will honor its actor/musician/painter namesake with a gallery exhibition at (L)PR, three concerts at the venue, an additional installment at the Cavin-Morris Gallery in Chelsea and a final blowout at Town Hall.
Lurie, of course, has a maxed out resume: leader of The Lounge Lizards, star of Jim Jarmusch films like Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law, angler for his television show Fishing with John and brilliant visual artist (who inadvertently created the meme Bear Surprise). Lest we forget, Lurie was also nominated for a Grammy for his contributions to the Get Shorty soundtrack.
The "Strange & Beautiful" festival will open on September 9 with a 6 p.m. art showing at (LPR) of The Other Side of the Great Wall of Fuck. Afterwards, Ensemble (L)PR's darling co-founder David Handler and company will perform string quartet arrangements of Lurie's Lounge Lizards tunes.
On September 16, the venue hosts Sexmob performing Lurie's film music with special openers Greg Saunier's Inner Greatness. (Sexmob features Lounge Lizards collaborator Steven Bernstein.)
September 18 at Cavin-Morris will feature an exhibition titled John Lurie: There Are Things You Don't Know About, another painting installment that runs through October 25.
The final (L)PR performance takes place on September 25, featuring Lizards music performed by Antibalas and Hellbent (Michael Blake, Steven Bernstein, Marcus Rojas and Calweston).
Closing out John Lurie Month on September 27 at Town Hall, get ready for the following: John Zorn, Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Evan Lurie, Billy Martin, Michael Blake, Calvin Weston, Steven Bernstein, Curtis Fowlkes, Mauro Refosco, Doug Wieselman, Smokey Hormel, Tony Scherr, Jesse Harris, Sofia Rei, Jane Scarpantoni, Kenny Wolleson, EJ Rodriguez, Tony Garnier, Bryan Carrott, Shanir Blumenkranz, Todd Clouser...and others still to be announced.
In the meantime, here's Lurie's Lizards live from Berlin back in '91.
