Jessica Lurie

by Joslyn LayneJessica Lurie played alto and tenor in the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, which performed and recorded from the early '90s until 1997 and released three albums, on the Knitting Factory, New World and Horn labels. Lurie also composes and has received commissions and grants for works for multi-media, dance, and film from the NEA, the Saros Foundation, and from various Northwest arts groups. The Seattle-based musician has performed with bassist Arne Livingston and drummer Dale Fanning in the group Living Daylights and the band released an album on Liquid City in 1998 called 500 Pound Cat. Lurie has worked with many inventive and eclectic-minded musicians, including Wayne Horvitz, Eugene Chadbourne, Sleater-Kinney, Frank Pahl, and Eyvind Kang. Lurie also helped organize and stage the Tonehole Festival, an annual adventurous music festival in Washington. The close of the '90s found Lurie performing Bulgarian music and occasionally collaborating with former Billy Tipton Memorial bandmate, Amy Denio.