Evan Lurie

by Matthew CarlinOne of the original members of seminal downtown New York group the Lounge Lizards from the early 1980s, Evan Lurie is known as a technically proficient, classically-trained pianist and occasional keyboardist. Although his brother, Lounge Lizards leader John Lurie, gained more noteriety in the music and indie film worlds, Evan Lurie has always been a talented composer and bandleader in his own right. His first solo album, Selling Water by the Side of the River was released in 1990, during a hiatus from the Lounge Lizards. The album, which showcases Lurie's compositional skills, consists of classically-inflected chamber pieces featuring Alfredo Pedernera on bandoneon and Marc Ribot on guitar. His subsequent album from 1998, How I Spent My Vacation, consists of pieces Lurie wrote for low budget films, and includes performances by many of Lurie's cohorts from the various incarnations of the Lounge Lizards.