This past Thursday, April 29th, two-time Grammy award winner Ramblin' Jack Elliott performed at Corazon in Santa Fe. This was the first stop on his 2009 spring tour. Jack is touring in support of his recent album, A Stranger Here, which won a Grammy Award in 2009 for the best traditional blues album.
Unfortunately, due to the very poor sound provided by the concert promoter, Jack was treated more like a stranger than like the distinguished artist that he is. Somehow the sound man managed to interrupt the show over and over again with howling feedback from the sound system. It was incredibly distracting to Jack and to his loyal fans and friends who filled the room.
It was literally impossible for Jack to play guitar and sing without the sound system distorting and howling. Jack handled the situation with grace. Instead of fighting the sound system he did a show featuring his considerable talent for storytelling. Jack's stories and verbal flights of fancy held the audience enthralled. Even under the worst conditions Jack is spellbinding. His spirit shines through!
Jack's improvised monologues are as brilliant and entertaining as anything ever penned by his friends Jack Kerouac and Lenny Bruce. The difference between him and other beat generation poets is that Jack creates his narrative prose and poetry live, on stage... and he doesn't write it down.
Jack's improvised monologues are as brilliant and entertaining as anything ever penned by his friends Jack Kerouac and Lenny Bruce. The difference between him and other beat generation poets is that Jack creates his narrative prose and poetry live, on stage... and he doesn't write it down.
As I write this, Ramblin' Jack is continuing his 2009 spring tour. If he's performing anywhere near you I recommend you seize the opportunity to spend an evening with one of our greatest American national treasures–Ramblin' Jack Elliott.
And by the way, there are CD's and T-shirts available after the shows. This is a first for Ramblin' Jack. If I were in charge of awarding Grammy's for T-shirts, I'd give him a third Grammy Award for the coolest and most esoteric music T-shirt of 2010. I guess you can tell that I love my new Ramblin Jack Elliott T-shirt!
