I have been more partial to Tim Buckley than his son Jeff Buckley, whose career was cut tragically short just as he’d made his mark internationally with his Grace album. But that could well be a consequence of my age.
Followers of Jeff, as I’ve discovered in recent times, are just as passionate, just as devoted, just as informed as any who have come before them, in any era. For many years they have attended tribute concerts at venues such as The Basement, staged by uber fans such as Karen Rose. But now that devotion has been would up a notch by the 25th anniversary shows lovingly and adeptly staged by the remarkable Pippa Casey.
Pippa arranged for Gary Lucas to leave his home in New York and visit Australia for four performances. Gary is the wise elder figure who linked up with Buckley when he burst to public attention at a tribute concert to his father staged in St. Anne’s Church in Brooklyn on April 26, 1991 and was by his side as guitarist, occasional co-writer and mentor for the rest of his truncated career.
Seeing Gary is one thing but a great guitarist, no matter how superb, does not a performance make. When I caught the final date, in the cosy Baroque Room in Katoomba I found Lucas surrounded by a local rock trio able to flesh out the songs with a backing that rendered the show a true concert.
Bassist Michael Carpenter and drummer Russell Crawford with credits ranging from Josh Pyke, Perry Keyes, Richard Clapton, Mark Seymour and the Banks Brothers, were a fine rhythm section but the revelation was second guitarist and vocalist John Dixon.
Ash Morse had originally been approached to do the vocals but he got caught up promoting his new album To Go Home so he put forward John, who had been a member of his band The Grand Idea. He had to spend some months working on his vocal capacities but then he really rose to the occasion, startlingly so. There are moments when you close your eyes and you really witnessing Buckley in full flight. We heard key tracks from Grace, including Jeff’s interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. The fans seated around me were in a state of bliss.
He was so confident of his vocal prowess (described on his website as ‘John Dixon sings songs about love, change and life lessons with a voice that's both blue collar and bohemian, somewhere between Neil Young and Jeff Buckley’) that he even sang Sweet Thing from Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks) leaving ME in a state of bliss.
As was promised, the show brought together archival footage, stories, and performances, in an intimate celebration of a person, a musician, and the inspiration behind one of the most highly acclaimed albums of all time. We heard extracts from the album: Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas's Songs to No One: Early Work 1990-91.
I might just mention in passing that Gary Lucas, who floored the audience from the opening with his guitar flourishes was a member of Captain Beefheart's band. He formed the band Gods and Monsters in 1989 and has released more than 50 albums to date as a solo artist or band leader in a variety of genres, touring internationally.
He’s the same age as me and his credentials are quite awesome – he sure jammed a lot into his 70 years. This is just an edited version of that which appears on his web page: Lucas has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Nick Cave, David Johansen, and Lou Reed. He has also worked with Chris Cornell, Bryan Ferry, The Future Sound of London, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Hammill, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Geoff Muldaur, Bobby Neuwirth, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Graham Parker, Van Dyke Parks, Iggy Pop, Fred Schneider, John Sebastian, Patti Smith, Bob Weir, Nona Hendryx. John Zorn and The Alabama Three.
The photograph, by Florencia Esserling shows Gary surrounded by John Dixon, Ash Morse, me and Pippa Casey after the show.
- Glenn A Baker
March 7 2023
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