Lazer Lloyd

One of Israel’s foremost blues figures, the American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lazer Lloyd—born Lloyd Paul Blumen—built his reputation by bringing the genre to the Middle East, a region where it remained far less familiar than in the United States. Born in New York and raised in Madison, Connecticut, the soulful performer absorbed blues, folk, rock, and jazz from his musician father’s extensive record collection. These early influences coalesced into an emotive style that fused every strand, and by age fifteen he was already performing lead guitar along the East Coast in the band Legacy. While studying as a music major at Skidmore College in upstate New York, he began writing songs and singing; his instructors there included jazz bassist Milt Hinton and Randy Brecker of Blood, Sweat & Tears.

After graduation he assembled the Last Mavericks and briefly aligned with Atlantic Records, which intended to steer him toward Nashville. Instead, a joint Manhattan performance with singer-songwriter Shlomo Carlebach (also known as Reb Schlomo) prompted him to accept an invitation to Israel. He reached his adopted homeland in 1994 and, performing under the Hebrew name Eliezer Blumen, joined the psychedelic jam band Reva L’Sheva. For the following decade he toured and recorded with the group before issuing his own folk-rock-tinged debut, Higher Ground, as an independent release in 2004.

He next formed the roots-rock trio Yood, whose albums Passin’ Over (2007) and Real People (2008) supported tours across Israel and the United States. In 2011 he issued the acoustic set Lazer Lloyd Unplugged, the live recording Blues in Tel Aviv, and the Hebrew-language collection Haneshama. A 2012 collaboration with David Orbach produced King of Blues, while the solo album My Own Blues appeared the same year. Blues Leaf Records released the acoustic Lost on the Highway in 2013, after which Lloyd resumed touring Israel and North America under his own name. During summer 2015 he unveiled a self-titled electric album on his Chicago-based Lots of Love Record label. Two years later came Freedom’s Child, co-produced by the Grammy-nominated David Ivory.