Fresno Famous

I remember clearly David Byrne in the early eighties saying that 'talking about music was like dancing about architecture.'
Then folks like Twyla Tharp and Catherine Wheel actually started dancing with movements that portrayed architecture. So much for that.

Jag feels my writings are known for two things: Length and Vehemence… (This is amazing to me.. I so rarely am irritated when I write.
The Length thing… well, that leaves me guilty as charged.)
Vehemence was not seen as a positive nor negative, just a straight, and fair description…
I think I'm relieved in this… (It gives me things to consider… thanks Jag, every once in a while considering things are important…)
Much like the dark chocolate given by DJ Proff… there needs to be sweet with the bitter.
(Thanks for that too.)

To write about music, more importantly this morning, is to write about Julia Dawn.
Yes, I know there were other performers there at Tokyo last night… (And they were good, very good.)

But to not comment and focus upon Julia's set would be a crime.
(I try whenever possible to obey the law.)

I will say names, and it's up to you to make the connection, (though this will be very easy.)
Rickee Lee Jones, Ani, Nico Case, Victoria Williams, Margot Timmins, Karen (lead of Over the Rhine,) Edie Brickell, Lyle Lovett, VanMorrison, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, EmmyLou Harris, Chan Marshall, Bjork.
-and
Julia Dawn.

All of these people belong in the same room.
While we're at it, I'll throw in Maria Callas, Edith Piaff, Billie Holiday, and Robert Smith of the Cure.

Blowing sunshine and simply dropping names?
Hardly.

First off, all of these performers specifically share one thing.
Even if they have voices that are 'less than perfect,' (and they all have perfect voices, in this man's opinion,) They also are death-defying and have no known inhibitions that we can find, (particularly Bjork.)

They all are extraordinary musicians who will not only bare their souls, bones, and feelings to the public, -but will do so in a way that you will never, ever forget, -if only for their honesty and beauty.

Last Night Julia Dawn, who has one of the most achingly disarming, strong, and penetrating voices I've heard in a long, long, time, stood in front of a packed club, backed by an extraordinary band, (Violin, Bass, Drums, and keyboards,) weilding a smile, guitar and ponytails, and proceeded to completely own the place.
I have never seen so many people at one time, so captivated, and simply begging to do whatever a single person would ask, -and all she asked is that they'd listen, be themselves, and enjoy her work.
(My father told me of seeing Judy Garland sit down on the edge of a stage and sing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' not long before she passed away, how there was not a dry eye in the house, and the house held hundreds… I now have my own experience such as this.)

Julia has both maintained and raised the barre.
This is musicianship at it's finest.

This is someone who has studied, knows what she's doing, is all business (though nicely), is simply dripping with soul and emotion, and delivers a set that rivals the work of people who've done it professionally for decades.
She's on time, she's tuned up, her band backs her and goes into the next song while she's telling us a thing or two, move as a couple that has danced together for dozens of years, and they make it look so easy, you'd think you happened to be on someone's porch with fireflies all around, and folks in socks.

There is no excuse to be made, This was no 'not bad for Fresno,'
no lame-assed 'this is a scene, this is supposed to be cool.'
Nope, the official time of death for that era of music in the town of Fresno was the moment this girl opened her mouth. It's been called, somebody write it down.

This was Stunning and Amazing.
Pay your three bucks, (which should be thirty,) come in, sit down, and watch how it is to be done.

Julia calmly took the stage, fronted a finely crafted group of serious musicians, and charmed the daylights out of everything in the room —including the paper lanterns, (those lanterns have seen a lot of performers, and ain't easily charmed, lemme tell ya.)
If you didn't feel something?,
they'd best throw dirt on you, because you too were no longer breathing.

Why the references to both male and female performers?
-some hint at androgyny?
Oh, hell no.

It is simply that when art this good is done, when music this good is done, when something this honest takes place, it is the human spirit of each person in the room that is romanced, brought to undivided attention, and danced glistening in the glow of it all.
Julia has this effect on both men and women,
-because men and women, both are lovers, and passionate, and not afraid to adore beauty, sincerity, vulnerability, and that which is done so well.
There is no known defense to this.

It's not just innocence, (no, sports fans, some of those songs are far form innocent.)
But it's an honesty and depth.
It's '...did she just say THAT, to 'could she please say THAT just one more time?..'
It's everything from the first real dance where bodies finally give in to each other, to the last time someone in their nineties steps up to the mic, and sings the Ballad that they sang their lover 70 years ago, the lover standing and swaying to the final chorus.

All of these performers I've mentioned are not afraid to take risks.
They are all unique, death defying, unforgettable, and will forever be seen as gods, for being so human and divine at once.
They step up, undrape and go into full song and dance the wires above, illustrating whatever their hearts feel.
There can be nothing but respect and the returning of the gesture, opening oneself, and giving full heart over.
That is the effect that Julia has on a person.

Last night, this young woman picked up the lot of us, birds of so many different builds, backgrounds, and temperaments, raggedy and weird, dusty and tired at the end of the day, held us in her hands, talked to us in her singing little half wavering voice, blew on to us, and then let us go, and we took to the night air around the darkened trees and neon signs, knowing that this experience would happen only once.

-Or simply until the next time that she took the stage, be it with her many talented friends, -or all by herself.

It has been said that there really is no answer to true love. It can only be received or denied,
Last night at Tokyo was love declared from a stage the size of side porch, out into the glare of an ancient polished wooden room,
-and what returned was ecstasy, trust, and adoration.

Julia, I hope you and your friends felt this wash over you moment by moment.

It was so well deserved.
Brilliant Set.