John Lurie
Fishing With John

FISHING WITH JOHN

In the early nineties, the brilliant idea sparked in the mind of the original American musician John Lurie to go fishing with some famous friends: Jim Jarmusch, Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, and Dennis Hopper.

Of course, why not film everything (in a rather amateurish way) and build a wonderful and naturalistic soundtrack around it? And so it was done... Everyone went fishing with John.

The videos of John and his companions' adventures were broadcast in America and are now readily available in Italy too. There's fun to be had, the landscapes are splendid, and the protagonists are natural, spontaneous, and really entertaining. The music takes us on a mental journey to the places John chose for his fishing adventures: like Jamaica (hunting for tropical fish with Tom), the ice (fishing through a hole in the ice with Mr. Dafoe), in Thailand (with the seasoned fisherman Dennis Hopper)... you travel a lot listening to these notes.

To say that the music offered in these 23 tracks is multifaceted is an understatement, there's really everything! Anyway, the strange Jazz of Lurie that he proposed in his previous albums with The Lounge Lizards (his band) is found in several tracks. The best ones: "Canoe", a mysterious and exotic compelling melody, "Horse Guitar", a little more than a minute wonder marked only by the sound of a plucked guitar, "Fish Dance", an (almost lyrical) piece to promote a rich catch, the fast-paced and rhythmic "Shark Drive" and the concluding dreamy "Fishing With John", one of the few sung tracks.

For those who want a few minutes of entertainment, I recommend finding the fishing skits; they're really strong: Tom Waits fishing and putting the still-alive fish in his pants, then in the evening with John ending up in a gambling den and playing with the local Jamaicans... Jim Jarmusch, quite inexperienced, trying to handle together with John an enormous shark... Willem Dafoe and John freezing as they fish through a hole in the ice... John Lurie is an adventurer of music (and life), hunting for emotions, remote landscapes, stories, and he surrounds them with always different and engaging music.

This album is a true 'musical adventure', listening to it, you travel a lot.

'Life is so beautiful, for some more than others, every breath, every day of our lives... AHHH FISHING'.