Legendary singer Tom Jones took the stage at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Wednesday night to kick-off the 2017 Dubai Jazz Festival and led the sell-out crowd on an enjoyable trip down memory lane.
Belying his 76 years of age, the Welsh wizard drew on his extensive musical experience and vocal virtuoso to perform hit after hit using a wide range of styles.
The evening, or rather night, got off to a good start with his backup band supplying the explosive dynamics that a lot of musicians do not have as Jones stormed into Burning Hell, an explosive cover of a song written by the great American blues singer John Lee Hooker.
Jones is not flashy on stage; he doesn’t need to be given his powerful voice and versatility, opting more to sway in simplicity with the music that is so close to his heart.
Even at his age, his singing was deceptively simple and soared in the beautiful night sky. It was a cold night, but everyone had warmed to the mesmeric figure wearing a simple checked jacket, which held court on the centre of the stage.
“Hello Dubai, it’s great to be here at the Dubai Jazz Festival,” he said in the gentlest of voices. “I love the lights.”
His next song was far from gentle though as the band burst into the rhythmically power-packed hit, Sex Bomb, the biggest single from his 2000 album Reload. But it was Sex Bomb with a difference. This rendition had a jazzier, swinging touch but it brought the audience to their feet. A rollicking gem strategically delivered early in the 90-minute set to get the audience involved.
“You like that,” Jones said and dived into Mama Told Me (Not to Come), a great song written by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman in 1966 and popularised by the band Three Dog Night.
Jones, who was born Thomas John Woodward, in the industrial Welsh town of Pontypridd in the UK, was influenced as a child by American blues, R & B and Rock ‘N’ Roll, seldom spoke to his audience, choosing instead to led the music do the talking.
After a wonderful version of the Blind Willie Johnson song Soul of a Man, Jones showed-off his strong and powerful voice with a magical cover of the iconic Tower of Song written by the late, great Leonard Cohen.
“Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey,
I ache in the places where I use to play …”
The haunting ballad offered Jones the opportunity to explore the range of his voice as he delivered a top-notch and sometimes chilling version.
“That[’s] a great Leonard Cohen song,” he said. “I really like it.”
The audience would like the next group of hits that included hits from over five decades like the Sam Cooke cover Bring it on Home to Me, Lead Belly’s Goodnight Irene and the entertaining What’s New Pussycat, a gem written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 for the comedy of the same name.
Jones may not have won a Grammy for his next song, the infectious It’s Not unusual, but it is arguably ranks among his best recordings and was brilliantly performed on the night.
It seemed like a long time since he won a Grammy in 1966 as Best New Artist because watching him perform on stage was an exceptional experience. Jones would come back for the traditional encore to perform one last masterpiece, the Prince cover Kiss. It was sung with bravado and worthy of the icing on the cake. The audience responded and gave the Welsh wizard a standing ovation.
