Luscious Jackson’s Vivian Trimble Gone at 59
Remembering the keyboardist for one of NYC’s coolest acts
Vivian Trimble, the keyboardist and co-founder of NYC pop group Luscious Jackson, has died at only 59.
The band shared the news of her passing on Facebook, stating that Trimble had been battling cancer for several years and passed on Tuesday following a complication she developed the day before.
“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved friend and band member Viv on Tuesday,” the statement read. “She had been in treatment for cancer for several years and developed a complication on Monday. We were not expecting this. She was a great friend and a gifted musician and choreographer, but it was being a partner to David and a mother to Nate and Rebecca that gave her the greatest joy. We are devastated beyond words to lose our graceful sister.”
Luscious Jackson, named after the legendary 76ers power forward, first came together in 1991 as a trio with Trimble, singer/bassist Jill Cuniff and guitarist Gabby Glaser. Former Beastie Boys drummer Kate Schellenbach would join the band in 1992 while they were recording their classic debut EP In Search of Manny.
VIDEO: Luscious Jackson perform “Naked Eye” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien
Luscious Jackson would release three LPs as a group, all on the Beasties’ Grand Royal imprint, though Trimble only appears on 1994’s Natural Ingredients and 1996’s Fever In Fever Out. She left the group before they began recording their 1999 swan song Electric Honey, which featured the trio of Schellenbach, Glaser and Cunniff.
Trimble would resurface as part of Dusty Trails, a duo with Josephine Wiggs of The Breeders who released an eponymous album in 2000. Vivian also recorded an acoustic-driven side project with Jill called Kostars, who released one album–Klassics With A “K”–in 1996, and was coincidentally produced by Wiggs.
Luscious Jackson reunited in 2011 and a few more times after that until 2017, though Trimble never participated. They were so fantastic live, having seen them at Lollapalooza in 1994 and then open for R.E.M. the following year. And Vivian’s nimble keyboard work, like Richard Wright in Pink Floyd, proved to be the heart of the LJ sound. She will be greatly missed.
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February 13, 2020 -
October 15, 2019
This is such a shame. A really great band and I agree that Vivian Trimble played a little bit of a ‘secret weapon’ to the group’s idiosyncratic sound. LJ is one of those acts like XTC where I liked ’em a lot while they were in action but grew to appreciate them much more in the decades since. I wrote about Jill Cuniff for Fine Art Globe (https://fineartglobe.com/artists/luscious-jackson-singer-jill-cunniff-paints-up-a-storm-of-lyrical-color), as she’s a talented visual artist, as well. Her lyrics in the Naked Eye live video on the Conan show are in full bloom, but you can see how much visual and bounce Trimble adds. A sad loss.