Here is a review of Jez’s performance at the club this month, written by a visitor:
Jez Lowe writes the songs future generations will come to know as “traditional.” Timeless observations, commentary both cutting and hilarious (and often both). A true master songwriter.
And there he was on January 15, a guest of the Carrington Triangle Folk Club, thrilling a few dozen of us with songs new and old. Dipping deeply into his bottomless catalog of songs and stories, Jez touched on songs from his Radio 2 “Radio Ballads” series and from classic albums like 2002’s “Honesty Box” through his 2020’s brilliant lockdown piece, “Crazy Pagan.” Hearing songs as gentle as “Louisa’s Choosing” or provocative as “Taking on Men” (recently covered by The Unthanks), “The Wrong Bus,” and “This Is Not My Tribe” is one thing — pairing them with the stories behind them is another experience altogether.
These all were superlative, of course, but the handful of new songs proved Jez to be one of the great songwriters of our or any other time. Opening the evening with the optimistic “Freebody’s Wake” then sprinkling the remainder of the show with the reflective “Old Man’s Eyes,” the genius “Message From A Mandolin,” and ending the night with the raucous “Frozen Roman,” Jez made the new songs as familiar as the favorites from his past.
I’ve run out of superlatives — he was that good — and to feel the music in an environment as warm and welcoming as the Carrington Triangle Folk Club surely inspired Jez Lowe and left your American guests humbled and delighted to be in the room. What an evening. All five gold stars to the Club for hosting such a fantastic night!
