John Lurie 051

Look closer for eight song titles and two album titles: Voice of Chunk; Bob the Bob; A Paper Bag and the Sun; Tarantella; It’s Always Something. It’s Never Nothing; I Am Not Alone; Harlem Nocturne; Lounge Lizards; The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits.

John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law; composed and performed music for 20 television and film works; and produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series. In 1996 his soundtrack for Get Shorty was nominated for a Grammy Award, and his album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits has been praised by critics and fellow musicians.

Since 2000, he has suffered from symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme disease and has focused his attention on painting. His art has been shown in galleries and museums around the world. His primitivist painting Bear Surprise became an internet meme in Russia in 2006. His new television series, Painting with John, debuted on HBO in January 2021. Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times wrote, “Painting With John represents HBO at its most worthwhile: arty and unpredictable.” Lurie’s 1980s NYC memoir, The History of Bones, was published by Penguin Random House in August 2021.

The Lounge Lizards

In 1978 John formed the Lounge Lizards with his brother Evan Lurie; they were the only constant members in the band through numerous lineup changes.

Robert Palmer of The New York Times described the band as “staking out new territory west of Mingus, east of Bernard Herrman.” While originally a somewhat satirical “fake jazz” combo spawned by the noisy No Wave music scene, the Lounge Lizards gradually became a showcase for Lurie’s increasingly sophisticated compositions. The band’s personnel included guitarists Arto Lindsay, Marc Ribot, David Tronzo, Michele Navazio and Danny Blumenthal; cellist Jane Scarpantoni; vibraphonist Bryan Carrott; keyboardist John Medeski; drummers Anton Fier, Grant Calvin Weston and Dougie Bowne; percussionists Billy Martin, E.J. Rodriguez and Ben Perowsky; bassists Erik Sanko, Tony Scherr, Oren Bloedow and Tony Garnier; trumpeter Steven Bernstein; trombonist Curtis Fowlkes and saxophonists Roy Nathanson and Michael Blake. They made music for 20 years.

Marvin Pontiac

In 1999 Lurie released the album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits, a posthumous collection of the work of an African-Jewish musician named Marvin Pontiac, a fictional character Lurie created. It includes a biographical profile describing the troubled genius’s hard life, and the cover shows a photograph purported to be one of the few ever taken of him. Lurie wrote the music and performed with John Medeski, Billy Martin, G. Calvin Weston, Marc Ribot, and Tony Scherr. The album received praise from David Bowie, Angelique Kidjo, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen and others.

“For a long time, I was threatening to do a vocal record. But the idea of me putting out a record where I sang seemed ostentatious or pretentious. Like the music of Telly Savalas . . . I don’t sing very well, I was shy about it. As a character, it made it easier.”^[8]

In 2017, John Lurie released his first music album in 17 years, Marvin Pontiac The Asylum Tapes..

-credit Wikipedia

Original illustration done in graphite and the following prisma colors: Orange for the basketball John played in high school; Dark Green by request; and Kelp Green and Moss Green, because that’s where lizards go.

Artist: Tobin Bortner of Bastrop, Texas – drawing done in November of 2021 – ©Tobin Signs/Look Closer Illustrations 
DERIVATIVE Work – photo credit: face from pinterest_es – 243eb3398b58016eb3ba18409e28ca91; jacket and tie from Poloroids show CNN_com – 150717115448-11-cnnphotos-new-york-polaroids-restricted-super-169; Saxophone from listal_com – 1118full-john-lurie

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