Ahead of their joint UK tour, Ben Newman had a chat with Jools Holland and legendary Puerto Rican guitarist José Feliciano about the wonders of collaboration and the power of music to cross bridges…
“There’s no stress” says Jools, reflecting on his collaboration with musical hero José Feliciano. “Truth is, when we start playing together, it works, for some reason the things that wouldn’t make sense on paper, when you start playing, sounds lovely”. “Lovely” is a word that comes up again and again when Jools describes the music of Feliciano and the experience he’s had with him; there’s a palpable excitement in his voice, half-between respect and unfiltered adoration. What Jools and Feliciano’s new album, As You See Me Now, and their subsequent UK tour shows is that their musical compatibility is fertile and rich.
There’s something to be said about how often the “don’t meet your heroes” motto fails, and the relationship between Jools Holland and Felicano exemplifies the fallacies in this belief. The respect Jools has for Feliciano clearly runs deep; in many ways, the Puerto Rican musical aficionado is his idol: “We’ve been trying to get [Jose’s] music on [Later…with Jools Holland]. For forever – I mean forever – he’s meant a lot to me, it was wonderful to have him on”.
The compatibility between Jools and Felicano has translated into their live performances, too. “When we played our first shows together people loved what we were doing, it’s so exciting having José there with his guitar, thrilled to bits to have him here and the people love him”. The chemistry, technical quality and improvisational tone of the collaborative tour has given the shows a loose and fun feel. Overall, in Jool’s opinion, the tour’s success is all down to Feliciano’s quality: “It’s because he’s a great musician, he goes above categories, really. Any music that’s great he makes his own and it’s a wonderful thing to hear”.
Feliciano, too, said that the recording process for As You See Me Now and the current tour is teaching him a lot. In Jools, he sees a “friend for life” and there’s even been some room for expanding on his sound in the studio. Furthermore, he mentioned several times that the tour has been a “great learning experience” for himself. It’s refreshing that at the age of 72, Feliciano has still used this tour as a learning opportunity. With great musical pedigree sometimes comes stasis when a musician reaches their pinnacle, but he still approaches touring with the enthusiasm of a novice. His relationship with Jools and his music have certainly breathed life into his guitar strings.
Feliciano’s guitar playing is his standout – to hear it live is really an experience. The way he can re-interpret and add depth to other people’s songs, too, is another part of the Latin American icon’s musical mysticism. Feliciano’s cover of Jool’s own song, Just to Be Home With You, illustrates Feliciano’s knack for digging magic out of other people’s songs. As the highlight from the album it’s the symbiosis of both artist’s strengths: you have Felicano’s re-interpretive skills combined with Jool’s excellent song-writing. In a way, the song sums up the philosophy of the tour: collaborative, complimentary and classic.
Reflecting on the recording process, Jools said that “when [making] a record you’re not sure if it’s going to work, on paper, y’know, you might think this is two different zones”. There were certainly some reservations before the recording process, but, in the end, As You See Me Now is an album birthed from a relaxed working relationship. “Truth is, when we start playing together, it works. For some reason the things that wouldn’t make sense on paper, when you start playing, they sound lovely”. The reason it works comes down to the relationship Jools has with his musical mentor – it’s a reminder that music can be relationship-building, it can go beyond borders, genres and can even bridge the gap between hero and fan.
Jools Holland and Jose Feliciano, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, Fri Dec 15th, 7:30PM, Tickets: £47. Info / 029 2022 4488