From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V4 #597 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Wednesday, October 6 1999 Volume 04 : Number 597 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe from this digest, send an email to * jewel-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY the word * unsubscribe in the BODY of the email * . * For the latest information on Jewel tour dates, go to * the OFFICIAL Jewel web site at http://www.jeweljk.com * and click on "Presence" * OR * go to the Atlantic Records site at http://www.atlantic-records.com * and go to the "On Tour" section * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V4 #xxx or the like gives fellow list readers * no clue as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- * "Sessions at West 54th" Review - LONG - Part two of two [deirdre Subject: * "Sessions at West 54th" Review - LONG - Part two of two Part 2 of 2: Somewhere throughout the show she had a little break while they changed tapes. She told us this and picked up her water to drink. The girl in front of me said, "Tell us a story Jewel." She swallowed her water and said, "A story about what?!" The girl said, "I don’t know." She took another sip and started gargling in the microphone. We all laughed so she went at it a little bit more kind of singing at the same time. Then a man came over to her and Jewel said, "There once was an evil make-up artist." He powdered up her face for her. Then she kind of walked timidly over to the harp and asked the lady playing, "How long did it take you to learn this?" She started running some of her fingers over the strings and playing something that didn’t sound too bad. She kind of huddled next to the lady and asked, "Why are some of the strings red?" and the lady said that those were the C’s. The she showed Jewel the pedals and Jewels said something like, "Oh, wow, you must love that." Then she said, "Can I play it with two hands?" The lady was all smiles and she got up to let Jewel play it. We were kind of laughing in awe and the lady said, "Want to hear me sing?!" It was funny. I think she got a little applause for that. While Jewel was at the harp somebody in the back said, "Where’s Steve?!" and Jewel said, "Where’s Poltz?" and Austin and I screamed "Yeah!!" She didn’t actually answer that question. I believe that was all that happened during that break. Yes, the guy with the Santa hat said they were ready to start. She got up from the harp and went back to her spot. At about this time came a medley of gospel music. I was kind of giggling because I was so entertained by the soul that must come along with gospel. They started with the choir and Jewel singing, "Go tell it on the mountain" and then the choir refrained, "God is watching us" from Bette Midler’s "From A Distance." All of a sudden I hear Jewel sing, "Don’t worry mother . . ." and I was so happy. "Life Uncommon" was so great. People in the audience finally started to get their bodies moving in their chairs. I think it was nearly impossible not to. They went back to singing the words, "God is watching us" and I believe that’s how the song ended. Lots and lots of applause for that. Nedra joined Jewel on stage, again, to sing "I Wonder As I Wander." No instruments ­ just the two of them. I loved to watch Jewel look at her mother. I know it sounds obvious, but they really do care for each other so much. They sang something about how they wondered why God cared so much for two ordinary people like them. I was just thinking how unordinary they are. I couldn’t imagine why they would question it. I just felt that those two people on stage deserved so much love . . . truly wonderful human beings. Jewel then went into the aria she wrote called "Gloria." This sounded a lot to me like "Ave Maria" because it was in Latin . . . at least it had the same effect on me because I was amazed by the opera style voice she used with her vibrato. Before she sang "Ave Maria" she said something about her probably not pronouncing the Latin correctly and that there are probably people who speak Latin in the audience. Somewhere near this moment in the concert she had another break. She didn’t really talk to the audience too much during this one. Her make-up artist came out again and powdered up her face. He also redid her lipstick. Her guy who does her hair for her also came out. Her hair wasn’t even messed up at all but he just touched a few pieces to make sure. Another guy who came out picked a piece of hair that was on her chest on her shirt. I don’t know, maybe Jango was running around somewhere. He straightened her shirt out for her. Then a girl came out. I’ve seen this girl before on "Making the Video" but I don’t know who she is. She had the same outfit on as on that show too. It was kind of weird. She had really long, black, thick hair. Jewel seemed very happy to see her. The girl went up to her and fixed her left bra strap so it wasn’t showing. Somebody over in the crowd on the right yelled, "Whoo!" which I thought was pretty stupid. She was telling Jewel something. Their form of communication just looked really odd. Their faces were brushing each other and I never actually saw Jewel’s lips move. Then the girl set her right hand on Jewel’s left hip as Jewel was having her lipstick done. Jewel first used both hands and swept the girls’ hair over the back of her shoulder’s and ran her hands through it. Then she split it in half and brought if over her shoulders. I was staring at this girl’s hand on Jewel’s hip. It just seemed so weird to me. When I looked back up at the girl’s hair it was back over her back and not over her shoulders and Jewel was kind of patting it. I want to know who this girl was. They seemed to be really good friends. There was a group of people on the right side facing Jewel’s side. They were laughing a lot through the whole show. I thought they were pretty funny. In the beginning of the show Jewel turned to them and said, "Apparently you have the view of my back. You seem happy, though." While Jewel was with this girl they were laughing a lot. I wanted to know what they were saying. Every time this girl would move her hand on her hip they would laugh more. I don’t know . . . I was kind of confused. This group of people continue to laugh when the girl left the stage. Jewel looked at them with this odd look which caused them to laugh even harder. Then Jewel said, "You guys are retarded!" I kind of felt like she was saying this out of insecurity. I think she also said after a pause, "But I love you that way" and somebody yelled, "We love you Jewel!" Then somebody yelled, "You inspire us to be retarded!" I thought this was kind of dumb. Jewel was kind of turned away already, and then she swung back around to that comment and said, "What?" It got pretty quiet and I was hoping the person would just say "nevermind" but they said again, "you inspire us to be retarded!" Jewel got a funny look on her face. She kind of pierced her lips together and then said, "I’m just going to ignore that." The next song was "Little Town of Bethlehem." For this song she introduced Arif’s son, Joe Marden. He is the one who arranged this song and "Hands." I think he was playing drums before. He put a jacket on and went to the director’s spot. His jacket collar was sticking up on his right side and about five people said, "Fix your collar," and he said, "Oh, thank you," and Jewel said, "I wasn’t going to tell him!" She had a strange, funny way of saying that. So anyway, they break into that song. In the middle of it Jewel came into an entrance too early and the director kind of said, "Do you want to do it again?" and Jewel just looked down and shook her head, "no". I think she thought that they could edit it out. When they finished the song, they told her that she had to do it again. They did it the second time, this time was just fine. It was interesting because this director was one who used much more than his hands to direct. He particularly liked to use his eyes. When they got to the part where Jewel misjudged her entrance before, he gave her this weird look to help guide her into the song. Nothing too unordinary, just something to remember later when I read this again. After "Little Town of Bethlehem" came "Hands." It started with the choir singing, "In the end, only kindness matters." Joe Marden was still the conductor. I actually started laughing again because I thought it sounded silly. Then the usual piano intro. came in. I liked this because somebody played chimes on the upbeats before two and four and they were pretty much in tune. It had a nice church-like feeling. Then Jewel came in. She sounded great but I kind of cringed because it seemed that something was off. I was sure they were going to start over but they kept on going. It all changed in one measure, though. All of a sudden everything seemed to come together and the song sounded beautiful. I really like "Hands" and I think Jewel enjoys performing it, so that makes it extra special. Then came another break. I think they had to fix some equipment. Jewel walked over to her mother and sat on her lap. I saw about five hands go up and pat her on the arm or touch her or something like that. All those people were adults. I highly doubt that they were EDAs. Somebody came on stage and started to talk. I don’t know who it was and I don’t know what they were saying. I was just looking at Jewel sitting on her mom’s lap. It was the sweetest thing. Actually, I think it may have been Arif talking on stage introducing the orchestra and choir. He said something about the back three male singers. Jewel put her hand around her mouth and added to his remarks, "Handsome, sexy!" I’m sure they were all very flattered. Jewel took the stage again. She was kind of fumbling for words as she began to talk about the Clearwater Project: - -Umm . . . my mom and I are starting the Clearwater Project . . . is that what it’s called? Yeah, I guess that’s the official name. Do you want to ­ I’m not very good at explaining it (Nedra just stares at Jewel with her usual pose). Well, each year over 500,000 people die from diseases in their drinking water in third world countries. So with me and my mom’s charity ­ it’s called Higher Ground for Humanity ­ we plan on making it possible for them to filter the water in hopes that they will be able to bottle it. So I’m kind of making this single in order to raise money for it. I’m pretty sure she recorded it right there. Wow, what an amazing song that followed. She turned to Arif and asked, "Am I starting?" and he said yes. So Jewel sang, "Don’t worry mother . . .." "Life Uncommon" began again in a full, live version. She’s so good. Her words about not losing hope and not giving up worked so well for the project. Unfortunately, in the middle of the song there was a high shriek of feedback. That must have been upsetting. I was just glad that they finished the song. The entire time it really felt like it meant something. She was really singing with her heart, and it would have been a shame to see her stop because of feedback. But she’s Jewel, and she’s not a sell-out, so of course she kept on going. So then when they ended, a guy called her over to the side and she walked over and stuck, not one, but two middle fingers in his face. Some people laughed and I cried out, "Jewel!" I was so disappointed then, but now I’m laughing about it. She came back to the microphone and said, "We had some problems with feedback-" and about three girls in front of me started clapping and were like, "Yay!" Jewel swung around to them and was like, "What?" and they said, "We love that song!" I’m really glad that they said that because I bet it helped her feel as though she was still singing for a purpose. So the second round of the full length "Life Uncommon" started. I think it was perfect. People were really starting to get into the music. It was great. There is a part in the middle of the song that I can’t wait to hear again. She kind of improvised in a different kind of way. It was just like her to lean back, close her eyes, and hold up a crooked hand in the air as she sang. Everybody was feeling it. After that everybody was all happy inside the studio. It was as if almost nothing could follow that song, but we didn’t want the show to end. So the guy came up and said that they wanted her to sing "Gloria" again. She said, "You want me to sing an aria after that?!" But of course she cooperated and sang it again. It was good, of course, but just so far from "Life Uncommon." I could tell that Jewel was getting really tired at this point. Even people in the audience were starting to get a little sleepy. The guy asked Jewel if she wanted to do "Joy to the World" again and she said, "Do I want to? No." But she had to, so she toughened it out and did it once again with perfection. The next part was a real treat. Jewel talked about how wonderful Arif is, and how she was too busy on tour to do the Christmas album that she really wanted to do, so she had Arif arrange it all and record all of the tracks without her. This was something she said she didn’t trust anybody else to do. She also said, "I’ll never do it another way again," laughing. Arif said that this album was one he would take to a desert island. They kind of hung around for a couple of seconds not knowing what "Sessions" wanted Jewel to do next. Then Jewel said, "I’m supposed to do some acoustic for you," and everybody got so excited and cheered. Then she said to the orchestra and choir, "You guys can go." We all cheered for them until they were off the stage. First, the three male members of the choir looked at Jewel, said goodbye, and kind of laughed as she exchanged nice words with them from far away. Then one of the guys in the band (I really don’t know what he played) didn’t budge until Jewel looked at him and he got all happy and walked away. I started laughing. The girls in front of me caught that too and they were laughing and pretending to write her phone number down. They brought out a guitar for Jewel. It was one of the ones that the other members had played. It had a black leather strap on it . . . no pretty Jewel strap. She said, "I finally know what to do with my hands. Now that I’ve peeled all of my nail polish off." They told Jewel that she could do three songs. She told the audience, "I can do three songs, and I’ll squeeze another one in there." I was so happy. That is so much a part of why I love Jewel. She is such a hard worker. She doesn’t stop when she is given the opportunity . . . always willing to give it a little bit more She played a little bit of what sounded like "Innocence Maintained" and then she stopped and said, "Ahh, enough with this. Does anybody have a nail clipper?" About 50 older women jumped for their purses. Somebody on the right from the louder group called out, "I have a file!" and Jewel said, " If I filed them it would take me a year." Somebody on the crew ran up to her and gave her a nail clipper. She started hacking away at her left hand. Bits of nail clippings flew in the air. She said, "Whoever cleans up this floor is going to be like, ‘What?’" It did cross my mind to pick up a nail but I thought, "No, Deirdre, that would be way too sick." Somebody in the loud group called out, "I’ll clip them for you!" and Jewel replied, "Back off." So when Jewel was finished cutting she looked at her hand and said, "Oh, they’re so ugly!" Somebody took the clippers back for her. The first song she played was "You Were Meant For Me." I guess she had to do this for the record company, but she changed it around a lot so it wasn’t like I had heard it for the 500th time. It sounded a lot like the version from "Storytellers," . . . very beautiful. So after "You Were Meant For Me," I turned around to the TelePrompTer and saw "People living their lives . . .." I was pretty excited because "Who Will Save Your Soul" was my favorite song on "Storytellers." I knew it probably couldn’t be the same, though, because she didn’t have the band with her. Although it wasn’t anything like the one on "Storytellers," it was still great. I haven’t heard that song acoustic in a long time. After that she asked, "Does anybody have a pick?" and about fifteen people screamed, "I do!" She laughed and said, "Figures." But the guitar player from the orchestra came out and gave her one. She looked at it and said, "This will work." Then she read it and said, "Ooh, Phil Collins!" She played about two chords that I immediately recognized. Austin turned to my face and very happily screamed in a whisper, "Sometimes It Be That Way!" The girls in front of me cheered and Jewel said, "I got you going already?" She then asked for less (I think) guitar in her monitor. Then she asked for less again . . . and a little less again. I suppose that ol’ Phil Collins pick really helped give a big sound. So off she went into "Sometimes It Be That Way." I love this song so much. The best part was when she altered the lyrics a bit and said, "I’m sorry I walked in on you unexpectedly. Sorry I didn’t serve you both chamomile tea." When she sang that I kind of uncontrollably let out this, "Oooh." Those words sounded so harsh . . . it was great! I was so glad she picked that song to play. Then the guy said, "If you want to do anymore songs we’re going to have to change the tape. We’ve got four minutes. Do you want me to change it?" Jewel said, "No, I think it’ll be OK." As if the show couldn’t get any better, she began "Grey Matter." This has always been one of my favorite songs. I turned to my brother and whispered, "Grey Matter." He didn’t believe me and he called it something else. She sang, "I hate you , I love you . . .." I was in a trance. When she got towards the end, I was just getting ready to sit up straight and clap, but she said, "I am flattered / and I am battered / by your grey matter." I definitely wasn’t expecting her to say the "battered" part. When she began the line, I knew that something different was coming up, but when she said "battered," I got so sad. The thought of her being hurt was so upsetting. She finished the last chord and I couldn’t even breathe. I was too stunned. I looked at her, but I couldn’t clap. She had moved me so much. The pause between the last chord and the applause wasn’t long, but it was definitely there. I hope that there were others there who were as captured as I. I really didn’t want the show to end. I kept saying, "No, don’t go!" But Nedra stood up and locked arms with Jewel. They turned to the side and walked away. Half-way out, Jewel turned to her right and waved to everybody. I think I may have even waved back even though her back was quickly turned again. So that was it. I didn’t get to talk to her, or even get her to sign one of the CD covers that I brought, but I really felt like I didn’t need to. The opportunity that I was given to see her so close was the best gift I have ever received. I now feel that I understand Jewel so much more. No matter how many songs I listen to, poems I read, or TV appearances I watch, the real Jewel is somebody I have yet to truly understand, and this concert has brought me closer to that. Tuesday night at "Sessions at West 54th" with Jewel was the best night of my life. ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V4 #597 ***************************