The Brill Building

Commissioned by JOHN ZORN and released in 2012 on his TZADIK label's "Lunatic Fringe" series, Kramer's idiosyncratic renderings of ten classic songs written in the Brill Building during its heyday is a heavenly event only he himself could have imagined and mustered. Featuring guest appearances by Jad Fair, Mike Jones, R. Stevie Moore, and with vocals by Daniel Smith on the final track (Phil Spector's little-known masterpiece, "Paradise"), these reinventions and re-arrangements illustrate Kramer's addiction to experimentation, freedom, and creative madness. Bongwater fans will immediately recognize this collection of "covers" as the next logical step in Kramer's explorations of his own musical past, and its hallowed place in the present.