Description
This August (2024) marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Jeff Buckley's "Grace" the only finished studio album recorded by this brilliant and late lamented singer-songwriter. By way of a tribute this double live set features every track from the album along with various live tracks from a broadcast appearance at The Fez in New York in 1994.This is accompanied by an acoustic in-studio performance from 1992 and the whole thing is rounded off with a great version of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" from a Gods & Monsters Brooklyn broadcast, also from '92.
It is amazing to think that, from the vantage point of 30 years hence, the release of "Grace" was met with indifference by both music critics and album buyers alike. But listening to these live tracks maybe one can see why, as Buckley was so far ahead of his time with his melding of folk, jazz phrasing and rock guitar that a musical mash-up that would be accepted as commonplace today was maybe a little too "new" for the ears of 1994? The songs presented on this double CD feature Buckley's soaring vocal that thrives above both full band backing and single acoustic guitar, each song sounding as if it has been made anew as Buckley takes liberties with the originals and reinvents them to suit the mood of the moment.
Who knows what creative heights Jeff Buckley would have reached had he lived. All we do have is the one studio album, a smattering of out-takes and a few live broadcast recordings, such as these presented here.
Track recordings from: The Fez, Undertime Cafe, New York City, June 19th 1994 WNEW-FM, Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey October 11th 1992 WFMU-FM, Gods & Monsters (with Jeff Buckley) St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, New York March 13th 1992 WNEW-FM