performance piece

there is something completely tragic about
finding an artist whose music you instantly connect with,
only to discover that, oh wait. they're dead.

if you listen to jazz, this probably happens on a daily basis,
but for most everyone else that moment happened in college,
stoned to the core, listening to marley, or maybe hendrix,
and wondering what it would have been like
to see this person alive and performing.

have you ever had that conversation with anyone?
listing the top five live performances you wish you could've seen.
that was a scene in high fidelity, wasn't it?
john cusack and jack black making their list in the record store...
crap, getting off the point here...

i was introduced to nick drake's music a few years ago,
just before volkswagon used "pink moon" to sell their cabrio.
(unsuccessfully tried to find a link for the spot, actually very sweet)
i'm a complete sucker for singer/songwriter folk music,
and the emotion in his music is only heightened by the tragedy,
and shortness of his life. oh, didn't i mention that?
yeah, he's dead too...

so it was a strange thing on monday night,
after running through the rain across cahuenga blvd
and into the hotel cafe to hear jose gonzalez play that i thought to myself,
"this. this is what it would have been like to see drake perform live".

playing to an audience that was wet with rain, heavy with expectations,
and short on patience after suffering through a forgettable opening act,
and an intolerably long wait before getting to see the headliner,
it could have been a disastrous show.
quite the contrary. the little man and his guitar held the room.
living in LA and going to see live music is a little like
going out to dinner when you have kids:
"oh god, please behave, please behave, don't be lame."
and from the beginning, the crowd was involved, respectful,
recognizing his better known songs, and applauding for them.
nobody was on their phone, or trying to conversate over the music.
it could have been new york or boston in the 70's,
and that could've been drake singing up there on the stage...

and the moral to the story slowly crept up on me...
oh, wait. this is better than that.
this is an artist writing his legacy in front of our eyes.
we're listening to him right now, hearing some songs
for the very first time. this music was happening now.
and so, i let it happen.


follow the url below to experience some of his music:
http://www.myspace.com/josegonzalezmusic