The Lodge were a 1980s British/Welsh/American art rock band based in New York City, but performing mainly in Europe, which briefly united members of Henry Cow, Slapp Happy, Art Bears and Golden Palominos (among others). It was centred primarily around Peter Blegvad and John Greaves, and drew strongly on their previous collaborations and projects (most notably the Kew. Rhone. album).
Roots (Henry Cow, Kew. Rhone. etc) Following his ejection from Henry Cow in 1975, Blegvad had returned to New York City to work in cartoons (most notably as a background scene artist for Peanuts ). Soon after this, he renewed his musical association with Henry Cow bass player John Greaves, and the pair linked up with singer/pianist Lisa Herman. The result was the Kew. Rhone. album, released on Island Records in 1977 and credited to John Greaves/Peter Blegvad/Lisa Herman. This was a dense and detailed song cycle with music by Greaves, lyrics by Blegvad and contributions by Woodstock jazz musicians Carla Bley, Andrew Cyrille and Michael Mantler. Described as “a brilliant amalgam of Slapp Happy's skewed pop sense, the collective improvisation approach of Henry Cow, the sly wit of the Canterbury prog rock scene, and (most fruitfully) Carla Bley's inimitably skewed progressive jazz”, Kew. Rhone. was very well received by critics and musicians alike. (Robert Wyatt reportedly bought two copies in case he wore out his original copy with enthusiastic replaying.) However, it was not followed up by an immediate sequel, although the participants stayed in touch.
Returning to England in 1982, Blegvad cut the albums The Naked Shakespeare and Knights Like These, both of which featured ex-64 Spoons guitarist Jakko Jakszyk. Greaves co-wrote three songs on The Naked Shakespeare and Blegvad returned the favour by writing lyrics for eight of the songs on Greaves’ Accidents album (also released in 1982).
However, Blegvad's attempts at a British solo career suffered due to record company politics and the effects of 1980s production styles. Pushed by producers into an over-complex and technological sound, he himself favoured the sparser and rawer sound of his small live band which included his brother Kristoffer on guitar and backing vocals. Disillusioned, Peter Blegvad returned to New York in 1986 and began collaborating with The Golden Palominos, the art rock band led by ex-Pere Ubu drummer Anton Fier.
Formation
By 1988, these various connections had eventually coalesced into The Lodge, a project which had explicitly been intended as a follow-up to Kew. Rhone. but which had taken a long time to emerge. Blegvad has reflected “We lacked discipline in those days, or something, I don't know... John and I retired to a Vermont farmhouse one hot summer with the idea of writing an album... and I think I wrote one line in two months!"
The songs for The Lodge had been written over a period of about seven years dating from Blegvad's 1982 return to England. As with Kew. Rhone., Blegvad wrote all of the lyrics and Greaves the music. Initially just a duo of Blegvad (guitar, vocals) and Greaves (keyboards, bass, vocals), with Lisa Herman joining them as guest vocalist, The Lodge ultimately transformed into a New York-based band by adding Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, flute and vocals), Anton Fier (drums) and Kristoffer Blegvad (vocals).
Smell of a Friend
The group's only album - Smell of a Friend - was recorded in New York in 1988 (with overdubs added in Cambridge, UK). It was released by Island Records the same year. Kristoffer Blegvad handled most of the lead vocals, although those on the title track were split with Jakszyk. (Elsewhere, Greaves recited the words on "Old Man’s Mood", and Lisa Herman briefly joined the ensemble to contribute lead vocals and piano to "Swelling Valley" as well as backing vocals elsewhere on the album.) Additional musical backing was provided by Gary Windo (tenor saxophone), David Hofstra (double bass), percussionist Michael Blair, future smooth jazz star Chris Botti (trumpet), and backing singers Deborah Berg (Eye To Eye) and Jane Edwards.