Global Sounds on the Hill Feat: Stephen Ulrich and Big Lazy: Music from This American Life

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Friday, Apr 21, 2023  7pm - 9pm

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Curated and hosted by iconic DC impresario and musician Jim Thomson.

“Big Lazy, the elegantly gritty instrumental trio led by the extraordinary guitarist Stephen Ulrich, plays stunningly beautiful music that evokes everything from truckers romps to the haunting film scores of Bernard Herrmann.”
– The New Yorker

Stephen Ulrich, guitarist and Big Lazy band leader has released his first solo album, Music from This American Life on Barbès Records. The album is a collection of 10 pieces Ulrich was commissioned to write for Ira Glass’ iconic radio program of the same name. At once shadowy and optimistic, Ulrich’s music weaves a melodic and textural foundation through many This American Life episodes. Ulrich is best known for his long running ‘crime jazz’ trio Big Lazy and for his score to the HBO series Bored to Death. Barbès Records has also just released the band’s back catalogue of 6 albums. Big Lazy, New York City’s gritty instrumental trio has flourished for over 20 years, creating film music and playing its singular brand of ‘guitar noir’ from the Whitney Museum of American Art to the Opéra National de Lyon. The band is known for its cinematic music and legendary live performances. With sparse instrumentation – Ulrich plays electric guitar, Andrew Hall on acoustic bass and Yuval Lion on drums – the trio forges a new American music from archetypes in Blues, Jazz, Surf, Latin and Rockabilly.

The trio will perform music from This American Life as well as selections from its 6 albums. Big Lazy’s current line-up features arranger, composer and keyboardist Marlysse Simmons of the bands Bio Ritmo and Miramar. Big Lazy is, in the words of influential music journalist Robert Christgau (the dean of American rock criticism), “the Big Apple Crème de la Crème.”