Paul Ubana Jones
14th January 2022
Paisley Stage, Napier, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers. Photography by Hayley Munro.
As we begin another year in which uncertainty seems to dominate the zeitgeist, master troubadour Paul Ubana Jones is embarking on a tour of his adopted homeland, sharing his unique pot-pourri of blues-inflected tunes and war stories. Just what the doctor ordered for this season!
Although the year to come will see him commemorate 70 rotations of the sun, there’s no sign of slowing down, the fingers flying as fast as ever across the fretboard as they form songs covering a diversity of topics, but all shot through with an admirable spirit of optimism and aspiration. This is a fundamentally gentle soul, spreading a message of peace, love and understanding, and there’s nothing funny about that!
Interspersing the tunes was a rich mixture of tales from the road, encompassing experiences from across the globe, including late-night post-rejection whiskies, maternal motor-mouths, witnessing Jimi Hendrix at the age of 16 (Paul was 16, not Jimi – that’d just have been weird!) and many more.
Given the climate we find ourselves in, Paul’s verbal acknowledgement of those who’ve taken the needle, while also calling for more awareness on the part of those who haven’t (“don’t watch your rugby and cricket, take a look at Al-Jazeera news and see what’s really happening in the world”) was very timely indeed!
The set consisted of mostly original material, with the occasional cover. A perhaps-unconscious neat little inversion was provided by the answering of a request to play a Hendrix cover with the playing instead of a Dylan one, echoing Jimi’s own appropriation of Bob’s “All Along The Watchtower”. A version of “Norwegian Wood” almost threatened to lift the roof, not for the last time of the night causing me to marvel at the fact that the ensemble consisted of nothing more than one man and his guitar, with no trickery involved whatsoever. Also filled out songs composed by 40% of The Traveling Wilburys-perhaps performance of one by each of the set could provide something to aspire to? (“Mr Blue Sky” given the Paul treatment sounds like an interesting idea…)
But anyway, speculation and digression aside, the absolute highlight was provided by the closing number “Raga-Bird Without Song”, which for over ten minutes dazzled with its spell-binding display of virtuoso technique and inventive technique. Paul has been described elsewhere as having a tinge of Ravi Shankar about his style, and this came to the foreground in this piece, enrapturing the audience for one final time and inspiring a rousing appreciation and applause at the close of play.
A hugely enjoyable night’s out, from a performer I’ve taken an unreasonable time to get around to seeing in the flesh, in spite of having been on my radar for over 30 years! Going by the drive and energy displayed here, I should have plenty of opportunity to remedy that omission over the coming years, and this opportunity is also open to you, the reader – see this man when you can, and get carried away by his craft!
Were you there at Paisley Stage for this magnificent artist? Or have you seen Paul Ubana Jones perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only.
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