All the World is a Green Jockey Full of Bourbon

I played a Tom Waits tribute show organized by Robin Aigner at Freddy's Bar in Park Slope on March 22. I was joined on stage by three amazing musicians, two of which (Gavin and Bob) I had only met moments before. Here's Jockey Full of Bourbon, featuring Gavin Smith on bass clarinet, Bob van Pelt on Bass, and Andrew Sovine on guitar. These guys just crushed it! This was the first Tom Waits song I ever heard, when it was in the opening scene of the Jarmusch film Down by Law. It completely blew my head off then and introduced me to the weird and wonderful world of Tom Waits.

Here's All the World is Green from the album Blood Money. This time Gavin is on clarinet. This song just breaks my heart into a million pieces. The arrangement, the vocal delivery, the mix of the cryptic, poetic romance, and emotional directness add up to pure songwriting perfection.