Paul Ubana Jones at Downstage

Paul Ubana Jones will play Wellington's Downstage Theatre on Sunday, August, 29, at 7pm.

If you live in, or near, Wellington this will be a must-see show. Paul is a remarkable guitar player and incredible singer and has rare gifts as a song interpreter and songwriter. I've been a fan of the music of Paul Ubana Jones for about 20 years.

I can remember seeing him live for the first time in Havelock North in 1997. I met him afterwards, in that way you do. Clinking glasses, shaking hands, thanking him for the music.

A year or so later, having seen him play a couple of times since the Hawke's Bay pub gig, I ditched work an hour early on a Saturday afternoon and jumped in the car with a friend to drive to the ski field to see Paul Ubana Jones play to a couple of dozen people. He recognised us afterwards - spotting that we were there for the show rather than the snow. We told him we had driven from Wellington to see him play, as fans. Strangely, fortunately, this did not scare him off. In fact Paul bought us a drink - a thankyou for driving the distance. We had a whiskey with him. Helped him load his gear into his vehicle and hit the road back to Wellington. It was a relatively insane thing to do. But it was brilliant. I still have a poster Paul signed to me from that gig.

Flash forward, another year or so, a night after Paul has played a gig and I'm invited up to chat with him in the hotel room, to have some drinks and to witness what is still my favourite performance by anyone ever. Sitting a couple of feet away Paul played a version of Scarborough Fair, a song I've never particularly cared for. And he made it sound like a new song. I know that's the standard cliché when talking about covers, but this was true. He made this his own. He owned it. Then he did the same with Norwegian Wood; combining the guitar and sitar sounds, stripping it back to folk roots, moving it forward to a more psychedelic late-1960s sound; creating an ominous, pulsing, thriving version that totally paid tribute to The Beatles but moved far beyond it.

Since then I've seen Paul as the opening act for Bob Dylan and Patti Smith, for Keb Mo', Norah Jones, Natalie Cole. He contributed hugely to all of those evenings. Keb Mo' invited him back on stage to duet as part of the main set. It meant Norah Jones's audience was at least awake for part of the show. And for the Natalie Cole gig he was told to not sing - I'm guessing this was a diva request by Ms Cole - so he performed an extended 20-minute instrumental version of his Raga (Bird Without Song), filling the support slot with one tune and wowing the audience.

If you wanted to check out one album to hear how Ubana Jones connects with an audience, how amazing he sounds, the range of covers and originals - then Live at Christchurch Civic is the one.

Here's a clip of him in action.

But there are all of the studio albums too. My favourites are the self-titled one and Blessings & Burdens. That said, there are some superb tunes and performances on The Things Which Touch Me So and A Change of Season (see here for the title track).

I've always said that Paul Ubana Jones would be considered a national treasure if he made any other country his home. I feel he's somewhat forgotten/under-appreciated here.

I'm really looking forward to this Sunday evening show, August 29 at Downstage. You can order tickets for it here. It's $35. And it will be an intimate, sit-down, two-set show.

Paul Ubana Jones, for me, takes a little something from Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and John Martyn, adds plenty of Pierre Bensusan and some Michael Hedges. He combines world, folk, soul, blues and rock. And he is a spellbinding performer. You can marvel at the power and grit in his voice, at the observations in his story-songs and at the power, skill and beauty in his playing.

He also does a version of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind, again a song I could take or leave (mostly leave), but Paul's version is a reinvention, similar to how he re-crafts Norwegian Wood and Scarborough Fair. My favourite cover by Paul is his a cappella version of Gil Scott-Heron's Home Is Where the Hatred Is. I've also heard him tackle Strange Fruit (most often associated with Billie Holiday and no mean feat to attempt).

Blog on the Tracks will hopefully have a full interview with Paul Ubana Jones before the concert. But I just wanted to mention this today...let you know that the show is coming up and that I think it'll be worthwhile.

So, are any of you fans of Paul's music? Do you have favourite tracks, either originals or covers? Or favourite albums? Have you seen him live before? Real deal, or are you not a fan of his sound?

Here's his cover of Jimi Hendrix's Angel. And here's his song Give It All.

Do you think you'd like to head along and see the show? Or do you have memories of seeing one of Paul's shows from around the country over the last couple of decades?

You can sample all of Paul's music here and buy downloads direct from his site.

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