The poetry and ambient melodies of
Benjamin Lew have produced some of the nineties' truly innovative music.
Lew's collaborations with saxophone player
Steven Brown of
Tuxedomoon have yielded three memorable albums -Douzieme Journee: La Verbe, La Parure, L'amour (1995), A Propos Dún Paysage (1995) and
Nebka (1995). In a review of Douzieme Journee: La Verbe, La Parure, L'amour, Interview Magazine wrote, "All this band is missing is Yma Sumac on lead vocals".
Lew and
Brown first met while
Lew was working as a bartender in a Brussels bar frequented by
Brown and other members of
Tuxedomoon. When their conversations steered towards their musical vision, they discovered a kinship that continues to produce results.
Lew's debut album, When God Was Famous, was a collaboration with vocalist
Samy Birnbach of
Minimal Compact which featured the poetry of such poets as Yeats and Herman Hesse set to music. ~ Craig Harris