Gary Lucas: The Golem

"Gary Lucas plays guitar like Salvador Dali paints...guitarist with a global beat." —New York Times

Creative Music Works proudly presents Gary Lucas: The Golem, a live original solo guitar score to The Golem (1920) at the Bug Theatre on Friday, February 19th.

Guitarist and composer Gary Lucas is best known for co-writing Jeff Buckley's anthems "Grace" and "Mojo Pin," and for his work as a former Captain Beefheart guitarist—a lineage that speaks to his fearless, inventive approach to the instrument.

His original score for the 1920 German Expressionist silent film The Golem, directed by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese and starring Wegener, has become a modern classic, seamlessly blending innovative guitar music with haunting cinema. Since debuting the work in 1989 at BAM's Next Wave Festival with co-composer keyboardist Walter Horn, Lucas has performed it in over 20 countries, from London's Royal Festival Hall to the Venice Biennale to Prague itself.

The Golem adapts one of Jewish mythology's most enduring legends: a figure of clay, brought to life through kabbalistic magic in 16th-century Prague by the historical Rabbi Jehuda Loew, created to protect the Jewish community from persecution. Wegener’s and Boese's 1920 film is a masterpiece of early German Expressionism—a work of psychological depth and visual power that profoundly influenced Hollywood horror cinema, including James Whale's Frankenstein (1931).

What makes Lucas's score essential is how it amplifies the film's emotional and spiritual core. His guitar work captures both the Golem's humanity and its tragedy, the mystical wonder of its creation, and the moral complexity of its existence. This is not accompaniment; it's a full artistic dialogue between two mediums, each deepening the other.

The live experience is singular. Watching a master guitarist respond in real time to the unfolding narrative creates an intimacy and spontaneity that recorded film scores cannot match. Lucas's performance transforms The Golem from a historical artifact into a living, breathing work of art—one that speaks as urgently to contemporary audiences as it did nearly a century ago.

Quotes about Lucas

"Man can play guitar!" —Captain Beefheart

"I could listen to you play for hours, Gary...beyond cool" —Lou Reed

"An incredible guitarist" —Nick Cave