Israel’s
Blues-Rock King, Lazer Lloyd, delivers a hot, new, self-titled album due June
9th in North America and kicks off his 2015 tour at the House of Blues in
Chicago on April 20th
Lazer’s
signature deep lyrical writing and vocals combined with his virtuoso guitar work
takes listeners from the depths of mind-searing pain to the highest pleasures of
love, hope, and healing
CHICAGO, IL – Israeli blues-rock singer/songwriter and
guitarist Lazer Lloyd announces a self-titled album of all new electric and
acoustic material to be released on CD and vinyl in the USA on June 9th. The
Lazer Lloyd album, releasing on the Chicago-based LL Records
label, is packed with 11 new original songs and a cover of Otis Redding’s
“(Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay.” It follows on the critical success of his
2013 stripped-down acoustic solo album, Lost on the Highway (on
U.S. label Blues Leaf Records) and his 2012 electric CD, My Own
Blues (on Helicon, chosen by the Israeli Blues Society’s for best 2012
blues album). The new album was written and recorded in two Tel Aviv studios
(Sonic and Papa) during a period of intense songwriting throughout 2014. Lazer
gives voice to his experiences shuttling between a demanding touring schedule on
the stages of Israel, as well as in Russia and North America – often playing
live knowing his wife and five children were sitting in a bomb shelter back
home.
The cover art
for the album was done by Markus Greiner, a brilliant Chicago-based artist who
designed the DVD release cover for the 2015 Oscar-winning film,
Ida, as well as many album covers for Bloodshot Records, and other
musicians such as Graham Parker, among others.
Highlights of Lazer Lloyd's upcoming Spring and Summer 2015
tour include: House of Blues (Chicago) on April 20 and May 19 (as part of the
Israeli Jazz & World Music Festival); Steve’s Live Music (Atlanta) on April
30; Waterfront Blues Fest (Portland, OR) on July 5; Hayward Russell City Blues
Festival (San Francisco Bay Area) on July 12 (afternoon); Biscuits & Blues
(San Francisco) on July 12 (evening); The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI) on August 3; and
Bayfront Blues Festival (Duluth, MN) on August 7. For a complete listing of tour
events, visit his website. On his 2015 North American tour, Lazer will perform
his new material backed up in the Midwest by notable blues veterans Johnny B.
Gayden (Albert Collins and Johnny Winter) on bass, and in the West by Ron Perry
(John Lee Hooker) on bass, with drums by Kenny Coleman of the Chicago Blues
Kings and previously Koko Taylor and Sugar Blue, among others.
On the new CD, Lazer Lloyd takes his signature songwriting to
another level with guts and groove that won’t quit, and is certain to become a
favorite with global blues and blues-rock audiences. During the recording
sessions, Lazer was joined by his regular Israeli bass player, Moshe Davidson,
and studio pros Kfir Tsairi on keyboards and Elimelech Grundman on
drums.
Lazer’s music is influenced by blues, gospel, southern rock
and the great guitar traditions of power and groove from Jimi Hendrix to Wes
Montgomery. Known by many as Israel's King of the Blues, he cites B.B. King as
one of his biggest inspirations in music and in life. He also draws on the blues work of Clarence Gatemouth
Brown, Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Albert Collins, Albert King, Buddy Guy,
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter and Santana.
“This is the first record I ever
made where I successfully recorded in the studio things better than I can do
live,” Lazer says, “and I really am happy finally with how things came out.
Hopefully, I can help release some pain from someone's heart and make them feel
good. I think blues in all its forms continues to generate a devoted following
because it's real; it's about everyone's life story and it
heals."
He also used a wide array of guitars to get specific sounds
he wanted in each of the songs. “All of my guitars are always messed up because
I'm always looking for a unique sound somewhere between a Gibson 335, a Fender
Telecaster and a Stratocaster, so I usually have homemade stuff that I've
changed the pick-ups on at least 100 times and I'm still not happy,” he
recalls.
Lazer offered up some comments on the origins of several of
the tracks on Lazer Lloyd. “On ‘Burning Thunder’ - this is a song
about the raw energy of both the Godly and Animal soul driving a person in
opposite directions.”
“Suffering” - “The life on the road and becoming a successful
performer tears you in 1000 directions and it's no secret that there are dark
times when a person feels alone and enslaved.”
“Rocking in the Holy Land” - “There were many places that I
had a chance to break my career from and places that the record company thought
I should break it from. But Man makes plans and God laughs - from a strange
twist of meeting a homeless man in New York City’s Central Park, I played a
concert with a hippie rabbi, who convinced me to play with him in Israel to
check it out and I fell in love, so I'm there more than 20
years.”
“Love Yourself” - “This song is expressing the reality of the
ultimate oneness of the world and to internalize the fact that if you hurt
someone else or - God forbid - kill someone else, you are hurting or killing
yourself. My original concept for the song was for so-called religious
terrorists.”
“Time to Love” - “Everybody has their own blues and everybody
has different levels of blues: their personal blues, blues for their loved ones,
blues for their friends, blues for the country and then you have the big picture
blues for the world.”
Born Lloyd Paul Blumen in New
York, Lazer moved at a young age to Connecticut with his parents. Eliezer
Pinchas Blumen is his Hebrew name. Lazer is short for Eliezer and Lazer Lloyd
is a combination of his Hebrew and English names. Growing up in Connecticut, at
age 15, Lazer was already playing in night clubs along the Connecticut
shoreline. At 18, Lazer went to Skidmore College to study music under Milt
Hinton (bass player for Louis Armstrong), Randy Brecker (Blood, Sweat and
Tears), and Gene Bertoncini.
After college, an A&R executive at
Atlantic Records organized a showcase for Lazer in Manhattan with plans to send
him to Nashville to work with producer Garry Tallent (of Springsteen’s E-Street
Band fame). One night in New York, Lazer played a gig with the legendary
singing Rabbi, Shlomo Carlebach, who invited Lazer to play with him in Israel
and he quickly decided to take his music to the Middle East in 1994. Once in
Israel, Lazer joined Reva L’Sheva as their lead guitar player. With few blues
fans in his new home country, Lazer became a trailblazer, as he wrote and
performed his own blues tunes mixed with the classics and built an audience for
the blues in a country where it was an exotic delight.
In 2014 and 2015, Lazer brought his blues act to the USA to
rave reviews, featuring great musicians such as bassists Johnny B. Gayden and
Ron Perry, drummer Kenny Coleman, and for Canadian dates his band featured
blues all-stars Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick from JUNO award-winning band,
Downchild.
Lazer has successfully crossed over into the Israeli
mainstream music scene, and has been featured playing live on some of Israeli TV
and radio’s most popular programs. As one radio host said, “From the moment the
sounds of his blues guitar reached the air, it was completely clear that this is
an international-level guitarist. His shows are worth every minute. He’s one of
the great musicians.”
Reviews of his previous
albums have been total raves. “I have been listening to the blues for most of my
life and had never run into a blues record from Israel before, but this first
one is setting the bar high. His guitar playing alone is worth the price of
admission, and when you add in his vocals and strong songwriting skills, this
disc is a winner,” wrote Blues Blast Magazine in its review.
