Across the Pond #5 - February 2000
Another busy month on the UK folk scene with a full calendar of 'London gigs', 'Best of the Rest of the UK gigs' and 'UK Tour Dates'. Over from America there's a rare visit from the truly great songwriter, Randy Newman, playing with full concert orchestra on the South Bank, plus blues guitar wizz, Kelly Joe Phelps, country songwriter/guitarist, Buddy Miller, and even some old-time stringband music from the mountains of Virginia with The Konnarock Critters.
In the first of these columns, in October last year, I mentioned that in addition to the regular UK folk news and gig listings, I hoped to be able to include an occasional 'American Connection' feature, spotlighting an English musician currently working with a North American artist.
In fact it was back in October that I went to a gig at Cecil Sharp House in North London to see an old friend of mine who, I thought at the time, would make an ideal subject for this feature - English fingerstyle guitarist Jez Luton, who in recent years has been regularly touring the UK with American songwriting legend, Tom Paxton. (See http://flemtam.com/tp.html )
Back in the late1980's a young and enthusiastic guitarist called Jez Luton started showing up on the London folk club circuit. With his soft tuneful voice and amazingly intricate fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing, he always made a big impression. Jez was the kind of graceful support act that sets up the guest spot perfectly - a folk club organiser's dream. Indeed it wasn't long before he was being asked back himself, as 'the guest spot'.
In 1991 Jez moved back to his family town of Leicester and, whilst working in a battery factory for a while, continued to play the local folk club circuit along with the likes of Pete Morton and Roger Wilson, and eventually recording his own CD ' Journey to the Heart' in 1996.
PC. "You're probably best known for your fingerstyle acoustic guitar, but I saw you playing stand-up bass recently for Jez Lowe's band 'The Bad Pennies'. How did that come about?"
JL. "I first saw Jez Lowe perform in 1988 in London at 'The Last Straw' Folk Club. I'd been a fan for some time having heard many of his songs sung by other people. One of the many wonderful things about the folk scene in England is that it enables you to get to see artists you admire regularly and listen to their songs develop before they undergo the recording process. Over the years Jez and I became friends (after all, there are not a lot of 'Jez's' around, especially in folk music!) and in 1996 I got a phone call from him. He said "Jez, you play the bass, don't you? It's just that we've got a tour coming up in the States and Canada and our bass player can't do it." Well I said "Sure, I'd love to do it" and then frantically phoned around for someone to give me a crash course in double bass playing! I played bass and keyboards with the band for 2 years during which we recorded one CD entitled "The Parish Notices" for Green Linnet (http://www.geocities.com/~jezlowe/parish.html ). I left the band after moving down to Cornwall as the logistics of being in a band that is based 600 miles away seemed a little too much!"
PC. "Do you remember how Tom Paxton first came to hear about you?"
JL. "A friend of mine, John Smith, had put Tom on at a venue in Grantham (the birthplace of our beloved former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher - or 'The Bride of Frankenstein' as Tom refers to her!) and he asked me if I would play in the foyer in the interval. Tom was being supported by Carolyn Hester and David Blume on that tour so I was just providing a bit of music in the Foyer. Being a big fan of Tom Paxton it was a thrill to get to meet him and his wife Midge, and we all chatted for some time and got on really well. He complimented me on my guitar playing which made me feel great! I didn't know at the time that Tom was on the lookout for a guitarist to accompany him on his European tours but my friend Julia had given Midge my phone number. About 7 months later, completely out of the blue, I got a call from Tom asking me if I fancied joining him on tour. The funny thing is my friend, Pete Morton, always used to phone up pretending to be famous people and saying things like: " Hi there, it's Springsteen here. You fancy coming out on the road?" So I get this genuine call from Tom and was just about to say "Bog off! I know it's you Pete." Fortunately I didn't."
PC. "That first tour must have been really exciting. I remember you saying that the feeling of warmth from the audience when Tom walked out each night was just incredible. How did you feel?"
JL. "I was incredibly nervous at the first gig and remember pacing around in the car park outside with Midge being kind and reassuring and helping to put me at ease. The gig worked like a dream and we have since done seven UK tours together and it continues to grow from strength to strength. Tom is so well loved in England that as a performer you can't help but respond to the warmth of the audience. The lovely thing about him is that he is a very graceful person and has a tremendous generosity of spirit. He always allows me to open for him which gives me the chance to sing for his audience and present my own songs ( and sell a few CD's). I still feel a sense of unreality about it all when we're on stage together ; one of the first songs I started to sing in folk-clubs was 'Can't help but wonder where I'm bound'."
PC. "It seems like you've been touring with him ever since, whenever he tours the UK. How was the October '99 Tour?"
JL. "Well they seem to get better and better. I suppose the more I play the songs, the more I find different things that I can add on the guitar and stronger harmonies. There are always a couple of songs that I will grow really fond of on one tour that may not be performed on the next one, but Tom has so many songs under his belt that he has to be ruthless and sacrifice great numbers to bring new ones into the set."
PC. "Are there any plans yet for 2000?"
JL. "We are just about to do a very special Festival in Glasgow called Celtic Connections. Tom is the only American artist playing and it is a measure of his respect in the folk community worldwide. We also generally tour in the Autumn, or Fall as they say in America."
PC. "I remember you telling me that Tom's wife had said that you were her favourite of all his accompanists. This is a wonderful accolade."
JL. "Well Tom works with so many superb musicians in the
States that it makes me feel proud and somewhat bemused that he
should work with me. I expressed this to Midge, who is always
unfailingly positive and supportive, and she said that she thought
we complimented each other perfectly and she thought it was a
very natural combination. That made me feel very good and I
hope it continues to work so seamlessly."
[In addition to touring the UK with Tom Paxton, Jez also plays solo gigs from his home base in Cornwall, England. Contact: jez@tomdavid.freeserve.co.uk ]
Go to:
London gigs
Best of the Rest of the UK
UK Tour Dates
Contact Paul Castle: pdcmusic@freeuk.com
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