John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards Live in Berlin 1991

My review was written in September 1992 after watching the movie on video cassette.

Actor-saxophonist John Lurie is captured in an enlightening, no-frills concert film shot at Berlin's Quartier Latin nightclub. Feature should serve to expand his musical audience rather than prove a box office attraction on its own.

Lurie, known for his roles in Jim Jarmusch's indie films, heads up a nonet that performs in a jazz-fusion style refreshingly close to pure jazz. Main concession to fusion is the funky rhythms relying upon Oren Bloedow's bass guitar.

Soloing on both soprano and alto sax, Lurie shows a strong influence of the late John Cotrane, especially in several free jazz sections. His minor key compositions are quite varied here, ranging from a figure resembling Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" theme to near-pastiches of "St. James Infirmary" and even Bob Dylan's electric folk sound of "Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35". Debuting feature director Garret Linn occasionally overdoes the racking of focus or swish pan for effect but concentrates on recording the performance without audience shots or interview interruptions.

Lurie and Company minimize the on-stage clowning. He provides direct contact to the audience with a droll recitation of a shaggy dog story that has a dynamite political punchline, setting the stage for a torrid drum solo (plus chanting) by Grant Calvin Weston.

Ensemble playing is emphasized, with the band members getting to show off as soloists during a final number when Lurie introduces each of them. Notable contributions byh sidemen include vibraphonist Bryan Carrot, trumpet/cornetist Steven Bernstein and cellis Jane Scarpantoni, last-named fitting in well with the group's droning style.

It is really sad that this film can't been seen. I saw a copy only by sheer luck. It is a solid showing of John Lurie and what his concerts used to be like, when he was at the top of his game. Whether you like him or not he had great talent as a band leader, this film shows what was maybe his most talented ensemble hard at work. All of them went on great projects on their own.

The camera-work and the editing are good and get out of the way of the music, which is the way it should be. I don't know what else these film makers did but I do wish there were more films like this one. And maybe one of these days this film gets re-released for the fans.

For me John Lurie was the king of cool and still bops hard.

What are you guys thinking with this low rating? This is a great tape that captures a great performance from a great band. I was miraculously able to get my hands on this tape, and it has quickly become one of my fav's.

VIVA LOS LOUNGE LIZARDS!