The debut album by Pearly Clouds, a new international group of musicians featuring the renowned and highly respected Grammy-nominated guitarist, songwriter and composer Gary Lucas, a former member of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, have released a new animated music video for “Two Roads”…
Alongside him are Hungarian avant-garde jazz saxophonist Toni Dezso, and Eniko Szabo, the highly respected Hungarian singer of folk, jazz and traditional music.
Pearly Clouds describe their music as “avant-folk and ethno jazz-blues”, and in many ways the album defies categorization, reflecting the range, depth and subtlety that characterizes the unique blend of styles and influences which the members bring to the compositions and performances, as they explore the melodies and meanings of traditional European songs in a way which is as lyrical as it is challenging.
Gary Lucas has been dubbed: “The Thinking Man’s Guitar Hero” by The New Yorker, “The world’s most popular avant-rock guitarist” by The Independent (UK), “Guitarist of 1000 Ideas” by The New York Times, and “without question, the most innovative and challenging guitarist playing today” byfRoots. As well as his time with Captain Beefheart, he is also well-known for his collaborations with Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Jeff Buckley and Peter Hammill.
Toni Dezso is a 20-year veteran of the East European avant-garde scene, with a constantly evolving style which marries powerful melodies with free-form improvisation, while Eniko Szabo’s remarkable voice has been a feature of folk appearances with Csaba Ökros, jazz collaborations with Balázs Elemér Group, and traditional music performances with Tabulatúra which have marked her out as one of the most exciting and innovative singers on the Hungarian music scene. In 2014 her band Szabó Enikő és zenekara released their first album of her songs.
Although hard to easily categorize, what is for sure is that the album stretches musical and language boundaries with its highly unusual combination of instrumentation and voice.
