DAMIEN JURADO Live at the Bronson Club, Ravenna, Italy 2nd November 2018
Josh Gordon (left) and Damien Jurado at The Bronson.
When it comes to clothes, Damien Jurado doesn’t make a great distinction between street and stage. In a well-worn sweatshirt, ripped jeans and old sneakers, he gives the impression that he’s wandered into the club only vaguely aware that there are paying guests to watch him perform.
And yet, far from being slobby or disrespectful, his casual attire is very much in keeping with the un-showy style of his music. His songs never go out of their way to grab the attention but, rather, they have a relaxing and slightly hypnotic quality.
They are relatively short so, rather than telling complete stories, they take on the quality of brief, introspective reflections. His finest songs like ‘Over Rainbows And Rainer’ and, my favorite, ‘A.M.Am’ manage to combine elements of melancholy and celebration.
The only cover he plays is ‘The Novelist’ by Richard Swift who sadly passed away in July of this year aged 41. Jurado makes a touching tribute to his late friend who he frequently collaborated with.
On stage in Ravenna, before a small, attentive seated audience, he is accompanied by gifted guitarist, Josh Gordon. Remarkably for such quiet, understated music, his songs sound even more intimate in a live setting.
Between each song he spends a minute or two patiently re-tuning his acoustic guitar (“It’s like tuning a harp”). He doesn’t speak much but he tells a lengthy anecdote by way of introduction to ‘Percy Faith’. which he once heard playing over the P.A. while boarding a plane from Seattle to LA. He was the last to take his seat conscious that the other passengers, annoyed by his lateness, were almost certainly oblivious to the fact he was composer of the music they were listening to. Not only that, but the plane’s hostess was unimpressed when he told her.
This story illustrates that Jurado never really expects anyone to be starstruck or even mildly dazzled by his modest fame. He simply writes great tunes which he sings in a soft, soothing voice that subtly draws you into his world.
“There’s no fear, no hatred, no killers, no guns”. This is the hippy dream of Jonathan Wilson – songwriter, producer, musician and all round gentle spirit. It comes from a line in ‘Over The Midnight’, one of the many highlights from his latest feel good solo album ‘Rare Birds’.
When the music’s over, life loses meaning.
