July 2019 was the last time Bob Dylan had the European summer scents in his nose, from fading lime trees to the pine trees growing everywhere from Porto to Rome and all the other Mediterranean sensations. The last few days were spent traveling through Italy from Milan down to Rome, and for Bob Dylan, always with the opportunity to see a sight, an exhibition, a garden, a church or a monastery.
Just in time for this European „Circling around the Southern Zone“ he had his Pandemic streaming event „Shadow Kingdom“ burned on CD, another nice souvenir and reminder for concertgoers of a lewd Rough & Rowdy evening.
And to be aware about his last transformation, which he announced funky and mysterious already in July 2019 with „Can’t wait“.
Today we know that he didn’t want to wait much longer, when he released the first new songs in spring 2020.
There he said goodbye to the Dylan we knew for decades, but he couldn’t play that out, when the pandemic rushed all over the planet.
Let’s look at this fantastic piece from Stuttgart Jazzopen 2029
This last leg of the recent South-Europe-Tour brought an interesting book into my mind .
It’s called „Robertos endlose Reise“ by the German Author Thorsten van de Sand.
On the spine of the book you can read the following:
What would have happened if Bob Dylan had not lived in the 20th century, but in Renaissance Italy ?
Roberto’s Endless Journey tells the story of the singer Roberto di Lane, who appears as if from nowhere in Florence in 1478 and quickly becomes famous for his powerful, original songs. He meets the greats of the Renaissance and befriends Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. He finds the fame he craves and threatens to fail at it.
On his travels, he is always in danger of becoming a pawn in political power struggles. Driven by his creative genuis and quest to push boundaries, he finds a way to live his art. This leads him criss-cross through Italy. Against the backdrop of a time of change, a Renaissance road movie unfolds.
Here is the website to the book:
https://robertosendlosereise.wordpress.com/
Bob Dylan believes, and that ´s what he says from time to time in several songs that in all of us, there exists the capacity for great courage, a longing to do what´s right, a willingness to love all people and to extend to them their God-given rights to dignity and respect.
HIDING IN THE BUSHES HOLDING A SMOKIN` GUN“
darmstadtdylandays 