Jesse Marchant’s fourth album ‘Illusion Of Love’ made quite an impact in 2018 with plenty of praise coming from the music press, many of whom likened his voice to that of Jim James. It’s described as an awakening and emergence, from crises both personal and political but genre-wise, it’s hard to pin down, so diverse is its musical appeal. Credit here must go to a band which includes members of The War on Drugs and Wordless Music Orchestra. Despite its musical breadth, what makes the album so cohesive is Marchant’s lyrics, they make those songs linger long after the final notes fade out. Such is the case on ‘Illusion of Love’, one of the strongest songs on the album, which also embodies many of the album’s themes.
Over the past year, there’s no denying that Marchant’s fanbase has deservedly broadened since the album’s release. As if the album itself wasn’t rewarding enough, Marchant decided to offer fans an additional opportunity – to watch the whole album performed live in Dreamland Studios set in a vast and beautiful 19th-century church, located near Woodstock, NY. In his own words:
“The Illusion of Love at Dreamland series was performed and filmed in a single day, shortly after the completion of the studio album.
“Being a fan of studio performance videos myself, I wanted to offer fans the opportunity to watch us play the whole album live, in a setting that was visually open and warm, sounding as good as possible.
“The same band and producer were used, and a string quartet was hired to recreate the string arrangements originally written and played by film composer Danny Bensi.”
Watch him performing the title track below and if you’ve yet to experience his music then make sure you check out his UK and European tour, dates for which are below.
Jesse Marchant upcoming EU/UK tour dates:
11.19 – AVELINO, IT – GODOT
11.29 – VIAREGGIO, IT – CRO DARSENE 1945
11.21 – VARESE, IT – TWIGGY
11.22 – PINEROLO, IT – ESPRESSO
11.23 – VERONA, IT – OSTERIA AI PRETI
11.24 – MILANO, IT – MA HIDDEN KITCHEN
11.26 – ZURICH, CH – HELSINKI CLUB
11.27 – BERN, CH – ONO BERN
11.29 – GRAZ, AU – AUTUMN LEAVES
11.30 – VIENNA, AU – BLUE BIRD FESTIVAL
12.2 – MUNICH, DE – ORANGEHOUSE
12.3 – BERLIN, DE – BAUMHAUSBAR
12.4 – HAMBURG, DE – HÄKKEN
12.5 – COLOGNE, DE – BLUE SHELL
12.6 – NIJMEGEN, NL – MERLEYN
12.7 – AMSTERDAM, NL – CINETOL
12.8 – BRUSSELS, BE – BOTANIQUE
12.10 – LONDON, UK – SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
12.11 – BRISTOL, UK – LOUISIANA
12.12 – MANCHESTER, UK – CASTLE
12.13 – GLASGOW, UK – THE HUG & PINT’
https://www.jessemarchant.com/