Lazer Lloyd

Lazer Lloyd
Background information
Birth name Lloyd Paul (Lazer Pinchas) Blumen
Born 1966
New York City, New York
Genres Jewish rock, Americana, blues rock, psychedelic rock, southern rock, folk, jam band, blues, gospel
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano
Years active 1981-present
Associated acts The Last Mavericks, Reva L'Sheva, Yood
Website lazerlloyd.com

Lazer Pinchas Blumen[lower-alpha 1] (born Lloyd Paul Blumen in 1966), known professionally as Lazer Lloyd, is an American-Israeli singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born in the United States, a young Lloyd became a disciple of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and moved to Israel, where he played guitar for the influential Jewish rock band Reva L'Sheva. Following the band's breakup, he fronted the blues rock trio Yood before starting his own solo career.[1][2]

Lloyd is noted as one of the few artists playing blues in Israel, and his music has been embraced throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, both in print and through social media.[3] In addition to live songwriting sessions and sharing his latest guitar finds, Lloyd discusses his philosophies of "being a bridge", "never giving up" and other concepts on his regular live Facebook sessions.

Early life

Lloyd was born in New York City in 1966 and grew up in Madison, Connecticut. His parents were secular Jews with a staunch liberal and beatnik outlook, although Lloyd received a bar mitzvah.[4][5] His father, a guitarist who had played with Paul Simon in college, introduced him to blues, folk, rock, and jazz music.[6][7] Lloyd and his father attended concerts by George Benson, Carlos Santana, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, inspiring him to pursue music as his life's passion and his profession.[4][8]

Lloyd began playing guitar at age 13. His first band formed in his teens, Legacy, played covers of 1950s rock and roll. They played at a 1982 battle of the bands at Daniel Hand High School and toured throughout Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, including opening for Michael Bolton at Toad's Place.[4][8][9]

He attended Skidmore College, where he studied music under Milt Hinton, Randy Brecker, and Gene Bertoncini.[9] During this time, he saw a master class taught by B. B. King, from whom he "learned it is as important to be a good person as it is to be a good musician."[8] In college, he explored Buddhism and smoked marijuana recreationally.[4][6]

Career

The Last Mavericks

Upon graduating from Skidmore, Lloyd returned to Connecticut and formed a blues rock band called the Last Mavericks, which he later described as "Stevie Ray Vaughan meets Bruce with a bit of a grunge sound". After moving to New York in the early 1990s, the band recorded a demo for Atlantic Records, who subsequently offered Lloyd a chance to record a solo record in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Garry Tallent of the E Street Band.[4][6] During this time, he also opened for artists like Prince, Johnny Winter, and Randy Brecker.[6][10]

During the negotiation period for the record, Lloyd was playing in Central Park when he met a homeless man who told him about singer/songwriter Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and invited Lloyd to perform with the rabbi at a synagogue in Manhattan. At the concert, Lloyd was struck by both Carlebach's trademark spirituality and his use of flat five chords, which appear in both blues and traditional Jewish music. The two became friends, and Carlebach ultimately persuaded Lloyd to decline the record deal and come with him to Israel, where Lloyd ended up settling.[8][11] He became a baal teshuva and studied at Dvar Yerushalayim and Kfar Chabad.[4]

Reva L'Sheva and Yood

Main articles: Reva L'Sheva and Yood

Lloyd joined the band Reva L'Sheva in 1996, replacing founding member David "Harpo" Abramson. Releasing six albums, the band was credited with inspiring a post-Carlebach style of jam band-influenced Jewish rock played by bands like Moshav, Soulfarm, and Blue Fringe. During their tenure, they were promoted by radio host Ehud Manor and appeared on Army Radio and Channel 1. They disbanded in 2004, although they returned for a concert at Zappa Jerusalem in 2014.[12]

In 2005, he and bassist Yaakov "Dr. Jake" Lefcoe co-founded the blues rock band Yood, although the group had been in development since 2000. Acquiring drummer Moshe Yankovsky, they debuted at Mike's Place in 2006 and released two albums, Passin'over (2007) and Real People (2008). They also played the Beit Shemesh Festival and gave a Chabad-sponsored college tour in the United States.[13]

Solo career

After releasing two albums as Eliezer Blumen in the early 2000s, Lloyd recorded his first solo album, Higher Ground, in 2004 with Ofir Leibovitz of the Israeli rock band Nikmat HaTraktor.[6]

Lloyd opened for British blues guitarist Snowy White at a 2011 performance in Tel Aviv. Among those in attendance were rock singer Shalom Hanoch and radio DJ Ben Rad of 88FM, the latter of whom subsequently began playing Lloyd's music frequently.[6] That same year, Lloyd released three new albums: the all-Hebrew album Haneshama, the acoustic album Lazer Lloyd Unplugged, and the live album Blues in Tel Aviv, as well as a concert DVD calledLazer Lloyd Live From Israel.[7][10]

In 2012, he released the electric blues album My Own Blues and collaborated with singer David Orbach on the album King of Blues.

Lloyd released a second acoustic album, Lost on the Highway, through Blues Leaf Records in August 2013. In October, as part of the Jewish Unity Music Project, he released a music video called "Ha'am Sheli" ("My People"), featuring vocals from Israeli singers Gad Elbaz, Shlomo Katz, Aharon Razel, and Naftali Kalfa.[14] The following summer, he embarked on a North American tour, including a Canadian tour with members of the Downchild Blues Band and a US tour with members of the Chicago Blues Kings.[8]

In 2015, he released his first internationally distributed album, the self-titled "Lazer Lloyd", which included eleven of his own original songs and one cover, Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", through Chicago's Lots of Love Records. The album reached No. 4 on Roots Music Report's blues albums chart, while the singles "Burning Thunder" and "Broken Dreams" reached No. 1 and No. 7 on the blues singles chart, respectively.[9][13]

Artistry

Lloyd has been noted for playing blues with Arabic tunings, what he has described as "a combination of Mississippi and Moroccan tuning".[9] He compared the sound of his self-titled album to "playing an old Robert Johnson guitar together with an Egyptian oud."[5] In particular, his cover of "Dock of the Bay" is played with a tuning of DADADD, which he describes as "half-oud/half-guitar" tuning that adds "an Arabic/new-age touch."[2]

Lloyd's music also incorporates a wide range of genres, including Americana, blues rock, folk, psychedelic music, jam band, and jazz.[lower-alpha 2] Critics have noted his skill as a lyricist, able to elevate life's joys and struggles into inspirational material.[15][16][17]

Equipment

Lloyd's first guitar was a Fender Lead Bullet 3 bought at Manny's Music in New York, and he played mostly Telecasters throughout college.[2] His current stable includes a Herzl Raz 335-style with no sound holes, a 1983 Dean Bel Aire, and a Squier '51, with a Hohner guitar as his main instrument.[2]

Discography

Solo albums

Singles

With Reva L'Sheva

With Yood

References

  1. ↑ Lee Zimmerman (June 8, 2015). "Lazer Lloyd: No Middle Ground in the Middle East". No Depression. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Willie G. Moseley (January 1, 2016). "Lazer Lloyd Blues in Israel – A Common Bond". Vintage Guitar. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Colin Campbell (July 1, 2016). "We All Have Our Own Blues". Blues Matters. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 David Brinn (Nov 13, 2008). "Soul music". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 Avishay Artsy (Aug 13, 2014). "Lazer Lloyd, Israel's king of blues, comes to L.A.". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ben Shalev (Apr 20, 2012). "American Singer Swears by Blues and Miracles". Haaretz.
  7. 1 2 Donelson, Marcy. Lazer Lloyd at AllMusic
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Eloise Valadez (June 19, 2014). "Israel's blues king Lazer Lloyd returns to U.S. homeland". The Times of Northwest Indiana.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Mark Zaretsky (Aug 6, 2015). "Former Madison musician Lazer Lloyd a blues rocker in Israel". New Haven Register.
  10. 1 2 Ben Bresky (Nov 8, 2011). "Religion and Rock - Lazer Lloyd Releases New CD". Arutz Sheva.
  11. ↑ Anthony Weiss (Dec 1, 2014). "Hasidic musician Lazer Lloyd sings the black hat blues". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  12. ↑ Brinn, David (Jan 1, 2014). "Reva L'Sheva's seven-year itch". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  13. 1 2 David Brinn (Sep 21, 2015). "Lazer Lloyd spreads his musical message abroad". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Yoni Collins (Nov 11, 2013). "Lazer Lloyd's still got the blues". The Jerusalem Post.
  15. ↑ Jim Hynes (July 21, 2015). "Lazer Lloyd". Elmore. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  16. ↑ Gary von Tersch (August 1, 2015). "Lazer Lloyd". Big City Rhythm and Blues. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  17. ↑ Nathan Norgel (July 24, 2015). "Album des Monats Juli 2015 in der Wasser-Prawda". Wasser Prawda. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

Notes

  1. ↑ Blumen is named after his grandfather "Lazer". A common misconception is that his Hebrew name is Eliezer which is not correct. For questions and information on this topic please contact Lazer's record label http://lotsofloverecords.com
  2. ↑ Extensive information on the formation of Lazer Lloyd's style and songwriting range including musical examples is available on his website http://lazerlloyd.com

External links

Official website

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