Tom Jones at Jazz à Juan, 86 years of legend

Last July 9th, the Pinède Gould site in Juan les Pins had the great honor of welcoming the last active crooner, the legendary Tom Jones. A memorable evening, as Jazz à Juan is used to creating for us, and hold on to your seats, 65 years now and yes, Jazz à Juan celebrated its 65th edition this year.

So let’s go back to a festive evening, filled with emotion and nostalgia. His most serene highness, Sir Tom Jones, has decided to set down his enormous suitcases in Juan les Pins. Unpacking as he goes, like a storyteller from another time, anthological pieces from the history of music and for good reason, at the more than respectable age of 86 springs, he has experienced everything, from Chuck Berry to Willie Nelson, passing through Elvis and even Janis Joplin. Ladies and Gentlemen, please put on your life jackets, the Tom Jones cruise is about to set sail, don’t be fooled by the apparently calm sea, roaring waves from the past may come to shake you up a bit.

Tom Jones is, roughly speaking, 66 years of career, over 100 million records sold worldwide, titles that became cult and then eternal thanks to television and cinema. He even hosts his own show, entitled: “This is Tom Jones” from 1969 to 1971. Collaborations with the greatest, I’m thinking in particular of Elvis Presley to whom he almost steals the show when the latter was in residence in Las Vegas in the early 70s. He was also made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 and finally knighted in 2005. Let’s not deny ourselves any longer and dive right now into an ocean of musical memories, each more cult than the other. A Lord in Juan, it’s not so usual…

The history of pop music before our eyes

The concert begins with the very solemn and touching: I’m growing old, a piece on which the king of the evening impresses with his vocal mastery, the weight of the years giving his voice a patina and a sensitivity that make every word spoken give us goosebumps, much like a Johnny Cash towards the end of his life when he covered: Hurt, a musical masterpiece composed by the leader of the NIN group, the gifted Trent Reznor. “I’m Growing wise, I’m growing, yes I’m growing old…” It’s a fact, the multi-generational idol is aging, but aging beautifully and this sumptuous performance reminds us, for all intents and purposes, why he is absolutely iconic.

A summer evening that will be dotted with a constellation of hits, which could almost be described as interplanetary, so mythical they all seem. In order, the unmissable: It’s not so usual, festive as hell despite tragic lyrics and made extremely popular in the 90s thanks to the TV series: “The Prince of Bel-Air” and of course thanks to the film: “Mars Attack”, which will give new life to this emblematic piece from the 60s. The audience is electrified, people are dancing everywhere around the site, the Tom Jones magic seems intact, to the great delight of a crowd gathered in large numbers, filled with love and admiration for their idol.

He will then perform the very naughty: What’s new pussycat? which served as the soundtrack for the film of the same name, a piece that also launched his career and on which he clowns around as if he were in his thirties again. The huge hit: Sexbomb, will also join the party, a title that allowed him to make an unexpected comeback in the early 2000s, thereby relaunching his immense career.

Here too, the audience doesn’t hold back and communes with the master of ceremonies. We will also be treated to much more introspective pieces, even powerfully contemplative, I’m thinking in particular of the magnificent and poignant: Across the Borderline by Ry Cooder, the very soothing: This is the Sea by The Waterboys, to end with the very evocative: Lazarus Man by Terry Callier. The performance is masterful, powerful and assured, like a mantra repeated infinitely, Lazarus Man more than ever echoes the long life of the evening’s hero, that of a weary traveler who has crossed the trials of time, more than ever in search of meaning and soul rest.

A set that will therefore favor covers, you feel that the guest of honor of the festival wants to enjoy himself by covering a hodgepodge of pieces by artists he particularly enjoys, like Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens or Prince. Note a version of Kiss which is oh so enthusiastic and cheerful but also and especially a cover of Johnny B. Goode, which will long stay in people’s minds and with which he will close this magnificent evening.

He will also tell us that one evening when he was singing in Las Vegas, in the same room where Elvis was then in residence (if you please), the latter took him to see Chuck Berry in person who was in a box, asking him if he wanted to go greet the true inventor of rock’n roll? An anecdote that suddenly makes us realize the exceptional nature of witnessing such a legend of music perform and thereby fully grasp the remarkable career of the last of the crooners, who has traversed the entire history of “pop music” to come to us this evening.

The last roars of a giant

For once, Jazz à Juan allowed us to experience an unforgettable moment, between land and sea, somewhere under the California sun and the Vegas desert. The immortal Tom Jones offered us a recital in every way unforgettable filled with great class but also with solemnity befitting his venerable age. How can one not be moved and grateful to witness the last roars of such a giant? In the jungle of Pinède Gould, the lion, far from being dead this evening, at the end of a show of almost two hours, with no less than twenty songs, is clearly not yet ready to give up his crown.

Aurélien Maccarelli