John Lurie has released a new double album, Painting With John, that in many ways is the culmination of the artist, musician, and composer’s multifaceted career. Conceived as the soundtrack to his inspirational HBO series, which delved into his thoughts on music, his health journey, new life on a Caribbean isle, and new passion of water color painting, the album represents so much more than background music—it is a deep and intimate look at a remarkable lifetime of making music without boundaries.
Lurie’s instrumentals work on the sax, guitar, and banjo range from virtuosic to minimalistic; his vocals are whimsically rough and hypnotic; and his skills at composing and scoring films/TV have earned him Grammy nods. The mixture of Lurie’s various talents come together in a collection of musical meditations from eclectic genres and view points, with the perspective and wisdom gained from age and multiple near-death experiences, including battles with an especially potent strain of Lyme disease and cancer.
“After the illness started, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do this again,” Lurie said. “This may be the last thing I do. I want it to be beautiful.”
Ranging from sparse, vast vistas of spoken word truths to full-on orchestral movements, Lurie’s compositions retain an idiosyncratic unifying identity that rings true throughout every one of the 56 tracks on the release. The mix of tribal funk rhythms echo, without aping, the late, great Nigerian legend Fela Kuti. Beyond that, there are entire alternate personas like bluesman Marvin Pontiac, jazz-y jams, space-y banjo meditations, and Tom Waits-inspired tracks that sound so much like the gravel-voiced genius, listeners may find themselves checking the liner notes to make sure it’s not the man himself.
The lived experience of five decades making music and art, with a few extended breaks to fight illnesses, has left Lurie humbled, introspective, and inspired. Absurdist tracks like “Small Car” nestle neatly up against instrumental film noir soundtrack audio before delving into Afro-funk in short, bite-sized tracks.
Albeit every track is a complete work it does, at times, the project feels like sketches or demos of potential songs rather than the full expression of the idea. But the brevity becomes a feature rather than a bug. It helps reveal the nature of artistic expression, like a peek at the three-dimensional multimedia sketchbook of a genius of multiple disciplines and skill sets.
Though there is an extremely intimate, extremely personal feel to Pictures With John, it was not the work of just Lurie alone. Some of the songs come from previous projects and feature former collaborators including members of his band The Lounge Lizards. Among the album’s credited contributors are drummers Billy Martin and G. Calvin Weston, a quartet of horns comprised of Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Clark Gayton (trombone), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), and Michael Blake (tenor sax), guitarist Doug Wieselman, cellist Jane Scarpatoni, and more.
Although it does not exactly lend itself to a track-by-track analysis, a deep dive into Painting With John, the album, rewards the listener with a unique look at a singular artist—as does a deep dive into Painting With John, the TV series. Both are worthy of a binge.
Listen to Painting With John by John Lurie via Spotify below or on your preferred streaming platform. The collection available on limited edition, two-LP, 180-gram vinyl and digital formats here.
John Lurie – Painting With John (Music from the Original TV Series)
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