Apr 01 2008
Jack L
I’m a fan of Jack L. I’m a huge fan. I’m an addict for his music. I was introduced to his very unique sound by my girlfriend about nine years ago, and while my tastes in music have varied and changed over the last decade, I can’t help but still call Jack L my favourite artist.
His early offerings are translated versions of the work of Jacques Brel, the French musician, poet, actor, artiste and madman. One of Jack’s strongest hits is his take on Brel’s Jacky.
While Jack’s later albums have veered away from Brel somewhat, there’s still an unmistakable thread running through his work which lets us know that his inspiration comes from Brel, Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Tom Waits.
Jack Lukeman is a Kildare man who began his working career as a mechanic before heading off to Germany with where he hooked up with The Black Romantics. After releasing his first album, Wax, with them, he went solo to make the incredible Metropolis Blue, the album which made his name. Blue includes tracks such as the seminal Georgie Boy, Ode to Ed Wood (see video), Bedsprings and Rooftop Lullaby.
For the past seven years, whenever he’s played in Dublin, we’ve immediately bought tickets. When he did his Chez Jack L show in Spirit/HQ on we went no less than 6 times. Earlier this year, he played a show in the National Concert Hall and two weeks ago he was in Vicar Street. I’ve yet to be disappointed by one of his shows. His voice is haunting, from the deep and frightening baritones to the sweet angelic falsettoes, he’s a master of his craft.
One of my favourite songs of all time is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. I’m not actually a fan of Cohen’s version. I enjoy Jeff Buckley’s. I love Rufus Wainright’s version. And Jack’s version is truly brilliant……
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7vybTD2RRc]Jack L’s Website: http://www.jacklukeman.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jacklukeman
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lukeman
you have no idea how much i love this man, I even asked him to ing at my wedding! 🙂
and he replied, well his manager did!! and if the price and date are right he might do it, id say he would be horribly expencive but just imagine it 🙂 🙂
check out my live pics of him from over the past 2 times i saw him in Dolans Limerick 🙂
sorry link here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=jack%20l&w=74312611%40N00
in answer to your question on my blog, yes you may use some of them just credit me 🙂
I have created a new Jack L set of photos on my flickr, ull find it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lette_applejuice/
That’s a mil. It’s just for my personal use – a photo album at home. But I may use one or two in a future post – you will, of course, be referenced. 😀