Happy Holidays! Let’s catch up with the Pasadena crowd!
Thursday, 12/15, Lyd & Mo Photography
27 N Mentor Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106
8-10:30pm 4 artists doing separate sets, show times determined when we get there so plan accordingly.
RSVP here: https://facebook.com/events/s/throwback-thursdays-artists-ov/944573450279969/
I’m super excited to announce that “Document:Freedom:Spring (Live!)” was released on Friday, October 21, 2022! This is exclusively available on Bandcamp.
To celebrate, I’m also releasing reissues of my entire 2000s catalog there, for $7+ each. The great thing about Bandcamp is that you can download lossless and hi-res files all for the same price, plus, you can also “name your price” to generously support artists further. Even cooler, on Bandcamp Fridays (the first Friday of every month), the full amount of your purchase goes to the artist.
But enough about where you can buy it, you probably want to know about it! The album’s “liner notes” detail the magic of re-opening The Warner Grand Annex with my “Roots & Rambles” show after lockdown in June of 2021. The quick version is that they had a piano, I fell in love with the idea of playing it, so I did — for the first time in my adult life ever in a show! This led to a retrospective night of joy with an introduction of nine songs never recorded until now. And, only the last song of the night — an unplanned encore — is played in an arrangement that’s something I’ve done before.
For all of us, it was a beautiful night of hope! We were elated and a little bit surprised to be in a theater together. Covid rates were low, vaccine rates were high, variants were in the distance. I felt so free to have three different stations to play three different guitars…and a piano that night! It felt like a rebirth, as does today, being able to share this music with you. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Here are a couple thoughts from others:
“The word that leaps to my mind is “generosity.” This recording absolutely drips with it. Generosity of spirit. Generosity of artistry. You feel the artist’s presence.
Over the course of 15 remarkable songs, Jason Luckett invites us into his musical world, receiving all with warmth, humor and boundless energy and invention.”
— Todd Lawrence (aka Milo Binder)
“I have been a fan of Jason’s for many years and have watched him perform live many times, and I know this much about him: Live music is his happy place. He loves playing in front of people, playing off of and interacting with a crowd with a guitar in his hand, or his fingers hovering above a piano and keyboard. This here live album is classic Jason Luckett, at the height of his powers, playing to a room full of happy Lucketteers! His positivity, his love for his craft, is all present and accounted for in this show. I loved listening to and watching it as much as I am sure all of you will. Realize it!”
— Dee Madden
You can buy everything now and you can access the liner notes for free there, too.
The full concert video comes next month. But, with this album, thanks to Raymond Moore‘s carefully detailed mastering, the picture you can create in your head is so vivid, and that’s really the way I like to see music. Put it in your headphones and be transported. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Bill Withers live at Carnegie Hall in my mind since 1973, but I hope you’ll join us at the Grand Annex many times in the years to come.
I hope to see you all again, in real life, on the road soon!
Peace and Love,
J
Song List:
Stir It Up (piano version)
Home (piano)
Reimagine (piano)
Faithful (dreadnought acoustic guitar)
Looking at a Photo of Sonny Rollins (dreadnought)
My Return (nylon)
Stack of 45s (electric)
Bad Man You Want (electric)
The Passage of Time (dreadnought)
This Love (nylon)
Magic Trumps Reason (electric)
Our Moment in the Sun (electric)
Daydream (piano)
Summer Nights Are Ours To Seed (piano)
Miracle (dreadnought)
Big thanks to Simko for the beautiful photos!
-->I’ll be releasing a live album in the next couple weeks on Bandcamp. Here’s one cut.
Happy to be playing a set in Pasadena! And to be on a bill with Brett Perkins, Raspin and David Plenn. We’re all playing 30 minute sets, so come enjoy the whole night!
This is from Homecoming Sunday at All Saints Church in Pasadena. It was such an honor to be a part of this celebration. The camera takes a while to find me and I’m singing behind a mask, but it’s a thrill when the choir comes in for the bridge. And if you listen through the sermon, Rev. Kinman weaves the lyric throughout and we reprise the song with the whole church to close it out! A gorgeous experience!
-->I’m really excited that at the beginning of the summer I was invited to play at The Grand Annex in San Pedro. I was able to debut a batch of new songs and rearrange some old favorites for an in-person audience for the first time in months. It was also the first time I’d played piano onstage for probably a few decades! Here’s “Reimagine,” a song I wrote thinking about what we were going to do when we emerged from this time of lockdown.
I’ll be releasing more music from this show very soon, so watch this space.
And, if you haven’t already, please join the mailing list to get announcements when the new music becomes available.
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You know that career question, “Where would you like to be in five years?” It always intimidates me. I’m too busy putting out the current fires.
When I moved from Laurel Canyon to Beachwood Canyon about 5 years ago, the answer was, “playing small theaters, writing music for films, writing, and teaching.” I didn’t think a lot of that would happen emerging from a global pandemic that — as it has so many — touched me intimately.
And yet, on the week that California opens up, I’m playing a small theater, on a stage with a grand piano and a few guitars, so eager to share what’s developed from the past year. I’ve been writing music for short films, engaging in deep conversation/writing about cultural reckoning in the US, and teaching. I’ve learned so much.
This won’t be the pandemic show though, of course. It’s part of the Roots and Rambles series that received an NEA grant to explore cultural underpinnings of American music. The show will be a celebration of life and other joys, with new songs and old. I’m just so happy to be doing it. I’m happy that the grant required an educational component, so we were able to do a songwriting workshop on Memorial Weekend.
I’m grateful.
I don’t know where all this goes. What fires will emerge? I do know, however, that this Friday will be special.
If you’re able to come, please get your tickets in advance here: https://www.grandvision.org/calendar-details.asp?id=1417
If you’re unable to come, please stay in touch and spread the word if you think someone else might be interested.
Finally, especially for those who can’t make it on Friday, I took part in an online tribute to singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson to celebrate his 80th birthday. Enjoy the whole Harry affair here. I’m smack dab in the middle singing his song “Perfect Day” which you can see here. I’m just singing into my phone from my studio, but Harry’s song captures the sweetness I feel when I get to share a night with you and friends.
Stay safe, stay engaged, hug when you feel able.
J
Jason Luckett / Roots and Rambles
June 18, 2021
Grand Annex
434 W. Sixth Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 833-4813
Doors open at 7:30
Show begins at 8
