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Wiz Jones - 12/12/01
Wiz Jones is part of a rare and dying breed. A contemporary of artists such as John Renbourn and Ralph McTell and cited as an influence by Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Rod Stewart, the Balham-based guitar wizard has been a major force on the European acoustic music scene for over thirty years and is still going strong.
He is quick to acknowledge that there are few guitarists of his age left doing the gigging rounds, in fact he tells me, "They're all dead or famous". So his regular Monday nights at Nikson's on Northcote Road are a rare chance to hear the classic sounds of some of the best of British folk in an intimate and relaxed setting.
The Nikson's gigs have been running for about four or five months, in the tradition of his previous regular Monday nights at Fictions. Coupled with appearances at The Eagle nearby, these gigs have built up a quiet, yet consistent local following.
Wiz is a figurehead in the local live scene and is involved in a range of local music activities, as well as his regular Clapham gigs. These vary from teaching guitar at the Classic Guitar shop on Webb Rd to being involved in a baby music school project, where groups of professional musicians are invited to play to large groups of babies.
When I asked him about the intriguing sounding Bea's Baby Music School, he told me, "It sounds strange, I know and I was a bit sceptical at first, but it's quite amazing when you're playing to a packed house of babies". I guess you've got to be there!
Aside from these local projects and the fact that he's semi-retired, Wiz still keeps up on the International scene. He has a tour planned around the East Coast of the States with Thurston Moore (lead singer of Sonic Youth), which has been delayed due to the present political situation. There's another tour planned around Germany - it seems Wiz has benefited immensely from an acoustic boom in Germany in the 70s - apparently he's still pretty big there.
However Wiz has never harboured any plans to take over world with his music. He has a laid-back beat-mentality that gives his gigs a wonderful ease and natural intimacy in the tradition of his heroes, Big Bill Broonzy, Rambling Jack Eliot Bert Jansch and Muddy Walters.
In the early 90s, following a BBC documentary on folk music and the re-release of some classic folk albums, there was a slight resurgence of interest in the genre. Wiz benefited from this mini-folk renaissance and tries to harbour any young, up-and-coming folk musicians on the circuit. As well as his son, Simeon, who joins him every Monday, a variety of other friends come along to jam at Niksons and previously at Fictions.
Wizz says, "We seem to be going thorough another revival. There are plenty of kids whose parents were involved in the second generation of folk music. These youngsters are forming a kind of third generation. Young singers like Kate Rusby and Damien Barber".
With the terrible provision for live gigs in London nowadays ("live venues are all becoming gastro-pubs" he laments), he realises how hard it is for the younger generation of folk musicians. He says, "Nowadays everything is geared up towards the business side of things. There are plenty of young acoustic songwriters coming through, but there's just no longer a platform for them. Young performers are almost prepared to play for nothing, just so they can be heard".
Nikson's is a peculiar platform for these musicians. It's basically an upmarket restaurant, with clientele Wiz describes as "bankers, professional people and P.R. types". The management realised that Mondays were particularly quiet and decided to do something completely different on these nights.
Wiz says, "My gig brings in a completely different set of people. There's still the odd bemused banker or PR man looking on thinking "what's this all about" and it brings in all the local guitar freaks, as well as the odd guitar-loving tourist who's seen the ad in Time Out and who might have heard of me".
In the BBC's Acoustic Routes documentary there is some wonderful grainy old footage of an Alan Wicker documentary back in the 60s with Wiz saying that all that mattered to him was playing the guitar and travelling. The best thing about the Monday nights at Niksons is that, closing your eyes to the trendy decor, you could really feel as though you've been transported back to the 60s and you could be in a bar anywhere in Europe, anytime in the last thirty years. I asked him how much has changed since the Wicker documentary and those lazy days in Cornwall:
"Not much! I'm still in the same situation. Same gigs, same kinds of venues, still on the move. You know the funniest thing about that documentary was that when it was made it was supposed to show how strange us beatnik types were, hanging out by the beach at Newquay and playing our guitars. But when you watch it now it's the reporters - the ones who were so shocked about our behaviour that actually seem strange. I guess our attitude has just been absorbed into mainstream culture".
Wiz's laid-back attitude is one of the most prominent characteristics of his music, but in some ways this attitude has prevented him from grabbing some the opportunities open to him in the 60s. This attitude led Billy Connolly to describe him as having a "rather whispy life" in the Acoustic Routes documentary. The question remaining was the obligatory - though rather intriguing - one: Just what did Wiz think about the fact that so many of his contemporaries have gone on to be so successful?
"It's always an honour to be mentioned by those who have become more successful then me. It's certainly an honour for Eric Clapton to cite me as an influence, but I'd prefer him to cover one of my songs, or provide me with a bit of cash!"
"When you don't get recognition you can very often feel as though you're banging your head against a brick wall. I'm thankful to be still getting gigs though. It's ok to be laid back if you're brilliant, but if you're just average you can't afford to be like that. People like Clapton, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder could be as introverted as they want and get away with it, because they're so talented. However I've brought entertainment into so many people's lives in the last 40 years and I've got quite a few albums to show for it. There's no point in having regrets".
Catch Wiz, Simeon and friends at Niksons Restaurant every Monday night.
Niksons
172-4 Northcote Road
SW11 6RE
tel: 020 7228 2285
by Ramona Andrews
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