Tom Jones in Juan-les-Pins: a voice that defies the laws of time

The very recent albums of Paul McCartney (84 years old), the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger will be 83 years old) and Madonna (68 years old in August) have put the question of age back on the table. Is it really reasonable to continue singing after all these years? If there is an artist who absolutely contradicts the laws of time, it is the Welshman Tom Jones, whose voice has lost none of its splendor or its legendary power. If he walks slowly to take his place on stage, perched on a high stool, the man does not need to be asked to thunder. From the first song, I’m Growing Old, delivered in piano-voice, the tone is set. Jones makes no secret of his age, plays with it, while showing that he has in no way altered his abilities. Rather than playing the youthism card, the Welshman instead performs titles that evoke mortality. Tower of Song by Leonard Cohen, one of its author’s most beautiful, allows him to sing «I Was Born With The Gift of a Golden Voice» (I was born with a gift: a golden voice) without fear of ridicule. There, the acoustic guitar replaced the piano.

Jones gets up as the band begins to produce a more electric, blues-heavy sound to play Not Dark YetBob Dylan’s late masterpiece, which directly evokes the end of life. The group is excellent, the arrangements are very tasteful, Tom Jones pays homage to the repertoire with great elegance. He recounts his debut in the studio, at the end of 1964, and his first concerts in the clubs of the Côte d’Azur in order to present his first number 1: It’s Not Unusual. A title straight out of the Swingin’ Sixties, which will mark the start of a long-term career. Tom Jones, at ease in all styles of songs, masters all his effects without ever sounding mechanical. He breathes his passion into each of his vocal inflections. What’s New Pussycat ?by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is another foray into the sixties, punctuated by the presence of a chord

In 1999, the almost sixty-year-old spectacularly relaunched his career with the electro-pop hit Sex Bomb. If he still sings it today, it is in a blues version more in line with the rest of his singing skills. A very Stone-like intro with two guitars propels his rereading of You Can Leave Your Hat On by Randy Newman, popularized by Joe Cocker for the film 9 and a Half Weeks. Tom Jones is one of the last pure performers to cite the authors of the songs he covers. He thus pays tribute to his friend Cat Stevens – renamed Yusuf Islam a long time ago – with the delicate Pop Starbefore making a confession. “I love Bob Dylan’s songs” he blurted out, before rewarding us with a sublime reading of One More Cup of Coffeeperle de l’album Desire from 1976 too little known.

Miraculous concert

After London in the 1960s, Jones takes us to America, evoking Willie Nelson. “I was invited to his 90th birthday, three years ago already. He asked me to cover a piece that I had never sung.” he explains, launching into a Across the Borderline anthology. Ry Cooder’s composition takes on a new dimension here, a melancholy evocation of an American dream that has taken a turn for the worse.

Tom Jones takes contagious pleasure in the exercise of his profession. If his last studio album dates from 2021, it is on stage that this tireless craftsman has been giving the best of himself for six decades. We are far from his crooning years in Las Vegas with this new incarnation of himself who ventures into regions where few stars of his age set foot. Pop, Americana, blues, but also a Calexico-style Tex-Mex atmosphere, Tom Jones is afraid of nothing. Some pieces are delivered almost a cappella, others stretch out in atmospheric layers, the guitarists sometimes engage in jousting. The great elder pays tribute to Prince, whose hit he performed Kiss in the 1980s, before disappearing. As a reminder, he gives the score of the match between France and Morocco before prolonging the pleasure. The finale sees him quote his friend Elvis, according to whom the true king of rock’n’roll was none other than Chuck Berry. It is therefore with Johnny Be Goode, the latter’s standard, that this truly miraculous concert ends.