Tom Waits

California

Bums. Drunks. Prostitutes. Travelers. Nighthawks. Hustlers. Throughout the 1970s — under the spell of Jack Kerouac, Edward Hopper, and Charles Bukowski — Tom Waits told sad, comic tales of the down-and-out.

Waits sang in a gruff, unique voice, sounding older than he was, usually accompanied by just his piano and a jazz trio. Then in the 1980s, his voice and lyrics became deeper and more nuanced. His new sound drew on such disparate influences as the circus, cabaret, Kurt Weill, the field recordings of Alan Lomax, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and the tough blues of Howlin’ Wolf and Captain Beefheart. Waits is an American icon/genius.

Dmitry