Beefheart Night at the Knit

[walto]

Beefheart Night at the Knit:
A
Celebration of the Music, Poetry and Art of
Don Van Vliet
(a/k/a Captain Beefheart)
Music by Fast 'n Bulbous
featuring Gary Lucas & Phillip Johnston; rare Captain Beefheart films and recordings;
& reminiscences, poems and more by
Lee Ranaldo, Alan Vega, Roswell Rudd, Kurt Loder, Danny Fields, Hal Willner, Giorgio Gomelsky, Mike Edison, Billy Altman, Jamie Cohen, Dusty Wright, Felice Rosser, Fred Perry
and more (David Lynch is taping a reading of a Van Vliet poem specially for this tribute)

plus some surprise special guests...

Curated by Gary Lucas

Knitting Factory Mainspace

74 Leonard Street NYC

Wed. April 9th

beginning at 8pm

Tickets are $20

Don Van Vliet and Gary Lucas, Glendale California 1980

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART (a/k/a Don Van Vliet) is a seminal American genius who changed the face of rock music as we know it over the course of a dozen ground-breaking albums.
An uncompromising, outspoken visionary who emerged in the mid-60's from out of the Mojave Desert (where he maintained a childhood friendship with Frank Zappa), Beefheart blazed his own trail with his group The Magic Band, beginning with their 1967 surrealist statement of first principles, "Safe as Milk", through what are generally considered Beefheart's masterpieces, 1969's "Trout Mask Replica" and 1971's "Lick My Decals Off, Baby", finishing with 1982's triumphant return to form, "Ice Cream for Crow".
With music combining avant-rock, free-jazz, and Delta blues in equal measure in wildly unpredictable combinations, and Dadaist, neo-Beat lyrics dealing with ecological and environmental concerns, the war between the sexes, and the general follies of humankind run amuck ("This man is a very sophisticated lyricist!"--Jerzy Kosinski, Yale University, 1973), Don Van Vliet has been cited repeatedly over the years by Bono, Joe Strummer, Matt Groening, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Anton Corbijn, PJ Harvey, Robert Plant, David Lynch, Julian Schnabel, John Lydon, and many many others as a total inspiration.
Originally a child prodigy sculptor and painter, after retiring from music-making in 1984, Don Van Vliet began a full time painting career, and his canvases continue to be exhibited in high-profile galleries around the world.
Tonight the Knitting Factory celebrates a true American pioneer, beginning with a screening of rare Beefheart film clips and documentaries, followed by a reading of Van Vliet's poems and reminiscences by some very special guests, including Lee Ranaldo, Alan Vega, Roswell Rudd, Danny Fields, Hal Willner, Kurt Loder, and others.
The night will also feature the first NYC appearance in several years of
FAST 'N BULBOUS, The Captain Beefheart Project-- featuring former Magic Band guitarist Gary Lucas, arranged and conducted by Phillip Johnston (Microscopic Septet)-- with Dave Sewelson (baritone sax), Joe Fielder (trombone), Rob Henke (trumpet), Jesse Krakow (bass), and Richard Dworkin (drums).
The band will play selections from their acclaimed first album "Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind" (Cuneiform), and will debut new versions of Don Van Vliet's classic compositions from their forthcoming second album.
Special thanks to Dusty Wright/CultureCatch.com for assistance in the preparation of this event.

[Gerardo A]

Sounds awesome, wish I could make it!