Hove Folk Club

Wizz Jones : Friday 1st July 2011

A gentle, clear summer night made a happy and relaxed backdrop for the last Hove Folk Club before the holiday. This carried over into the atmosphere inside – familiar faces and friendly chat as we all enjoyed the wait for the night’s entertainment. Lots of the regular floor acts were there and on fine form – our host Robb, James Latimer, the Bandanas, Paul Stapleton of Pog, Roger Stevens, and Charlotte without Spong, giving us some of her new songs unaccompanied. Particular praise I think has to be given to another Paul, who’s only played a couple of times before but wowed us with some fantastic original songs. On top of all this it was Lawrie of the Bandana Collective’s birthday, and we got to sing along to his daughter and bandmates singing him Happy Birthday, with a cake and candles and everything!

There was an extra twinge of excitement, though; which was also related to the number of new faces in the club. Our main act, Wizz Jones, carried a huge degree of legend with him and comfy chunk of the audience had come specifically to hear him play. I’d never heard his music before, but I’d heard him referenced in hushed tones when discussing the ’60s British blues guitarists I’d loved in my youth – Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, and especially Eric Clapton – and he seems to have influenced just about every Big Name going from that era. The respect he was paid was clearly earned in spades, as well, and as soon as he took his seat in front of the audience, it was clear he was a staggering musician. He snapped and picked the most complex and intricate folk-blues patterns out of his battered Epiphone guitar as if it was the simplest, most effortless trick in the world. Just listening to roll and twang of his playing would have been enough for the evening, but what made it all the more special was that he was so easy-going about the whole thing – no self-conscious maestro poses, just simple, groovy fun.

Added to this were the wonderful songs. He gave us a mix of old American blues sung like he meant it, and some newer ballads reflecting on the times he’d seen, the sort of songs that make you stop dead remembering all that life can be. It was all woven together with wonderful stories and tales from his career, too, delivered in the most good-humoured an unassuming patter it almost felt like we were there with him. And he was just as speedy and adept on the banjo as he was on the guitar, too! One of the most special performers you can see, it was an honour to have done so – go and do it now, next chance you get, and help get him some of the fame he deserves!

Web site: www.wizzjones.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/wizzjones

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