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Luke Jackson

Venue: Cecil Sharp House (Album Launch)
Town: London
Date: 12/02/14
Website: http://lukepauljackson.com/

It had taken me more than four hours to get to Cecil Sharp house from Dorset with extensive delays on South West Trains, I managed to arrive just as they were about to close the door to the room where Luke was performing.

Martyn Joseph had the pleasure of introducing Luke Jackson and pointed out that when he was nineteen he still wanted to be a professional golfer and certainly wasn't focused enough to be launching a new album, certainly not focused enough to be launching a second album, which "Fumes And Faith" is for Luke, following up on his award winning "More Than Boys".

One of the great things about being nineteen is that a year can feel like a long time, so much to do so much to cram in and so much to experience and that is reflected not only in Luke's songs, but also his demeanour and he already has over five years of performance to draw upon.

Luke starts off in accapella mode, it really does show an artist that is totally confident in their ability and a heck of a way of laying down a marker for the evening. I've been lucky enough to see Luke perform a good number of times over the years and have never walked away disappointed, but if there was one slight weakness in his shows, it was the between song banter.

Back in the day you got a small, very focused intro, sometimes no more than the song title. One thing that Luke has picked up via his support of acts like Martyn Joseph is that full understanding of stage craft. Naturally it helps that he also has more experiences to draw upon, you can't talk about writing a song on the stage at St David's Hall until you've actually done it.

Whilst I was here at Cecil Sharp House for the launch, I couldn't help but notice that Luke really has become that all round performer that he always promised to be, sharing moments, both humorous and serious with a relaxed fluency.

"Fumes And Faith", as I've described elsewhere on this site, is an excellent album, tonight hearing many of the tracks live for the first time, you realise the strength of the songs as they together with older tracks were superbly delivered over two great sets and an encore, an encore that included Martyn Joseph returning to the stage to join Luke in a rendition of "Baker's Wood"

This was a performance that really does mark Luke Jackson out as one of the brightest young talents this country has to offer. This made every additional minute endured on the train getting here worthwhile. Make no mistake, "Fumes And Faith" is a stunning album on cd and in the flesh and Hopefully Luke will be able to show that at a venue near you very soon.

As a final aside, to answer another question asked to me regarding Luke. Yes I do have t-shirts older than him.

Neil King
words and pictures