The Official Website of Joe Jackson

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Afterlife

Live

2004

Rykodisc

Volume 4

Limited Edition

2003

Rykodisc

Two Rainy Nights

Live

2002

Koch Records

An 'official bootleg' from the Night and Day II Tour, recorded live in Seattle and Portland.

Night and Day II

Studio

2000

Sony Classical

Tracks: Prelude | Hell Of A Town | Stranger Than You | Why | Glamour And Pain | Dear Mom | Love Got Lost | Just Because | Happyland | Stay

Special guests: Marianne Faithfull, Dale De Vere, Sussan Deyhim, Ethel

Night And Day II was released on Joe's own imprint, Manticore, in association with Sony Classical. The songs are all about New York City, as seen through the eyes of several different characters. The album picks up where Joe's classic 1982 album Night and Day left off, and as on that album, the music is built around his own keyboards with significant contributions from Graham Maby (Bass), and Sue Hadjopoulos (Percussion). Also featured are the string quartet Ethel, and three guest vocalists: Iranian diva Sussan Deyhim, drag performer Dale de Vere, and the legendary Marianne Faithfull. All other vocals are by Joe himself.

The Night and Day II Tour finished in New York on April 20th 2001, after 68 shows in 12 countries. According to Joe, this was one of his best tours ever, featuring his best-ever live band: Graham Maby (Bass), Sue Hadjopoulos (Percussion), Allison Cornell (Vocals, Violin & Keyboards), Roberto Rodriguez (Drums), Andy Ezrin (Keyboards), and Catherine Bent (Cello).

Read Andy Gill's Review

Summer in the City

Live

2000

Sony Classical

Tracks: Summer In The City | Obvious Song | Another World | Fools In Love+For Your Love | Mood Indigo | The In Crowd+Down To London | Eleanor Rigby | Be My Number Two | Home Town | Different For Girls | King Of The World | You Can't Get What You Want | One More Time

In the summer of 1999, Joe Jackson decided, "just for the hell of it", to do a series of small club shows in New York City with two old friends, bassist Graham Maby and drummer Gary Burke. The trio learned a lot of songs, then went out and "winged it" - each show was completely spontaneous (played with no set list) and each show was completely different. Five of the shows were recorded.

The trio's repertoire consisted of new arrangements of songs from Joe's whole career, and covers of songs by some of his favorite artists, from Duke Ellington through David Bowie and Steely Dan to Radiohead. Some new songs were also previewed, including some from Joe's upcoming NIGHT AND DAY II.

The album's title track, 'Summer in the City', was chosen simply because it seemed appropriate for the blistering New York August in which it was recorded. Other cover versions were intertwined with Joe's own songs: 'Fools in Love' segues in and out of the old Yardbirds hit 'For Your Love', which has similar chord changes and a similar theme of romantic desperation. 'Down to London', with its evocation of "Swinging Sixties" London, is combined with a version of the Ramsey Lewis Trio's 1965 classic 'The in Crowd'.

'Mood Indigo' is a Duke Ellington tribute on the occasion of the jazz legend's 100th birthday. Steely Dan's 'King of the World', from Countdown to Ecstasy (one of the most influential albums of Joe's early musical life) is performed as a medley with Joe's own 'You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)'. And the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' becomes a haunting piano and bass duet.

Some of Joe's other songs have been radically re-arranged, too. 'Another World' contains a completely unplanned (and brilliant) Graham Maby bass solo, and 'Home Town' is performed by Joe alone, in a version which he prefers to the original (on the Big World album). 'Obvious Song' (from Laughter and Lust), 'Be My Number Two' (from Body and Soul), and 'It's Different for Girls' (from I'm the Man) are closer to the original versions, but if anything more authentic, since they are driven by Joe's own piano instead of someone else's guitars. The last track on the album is a frantic version of the first track on Joe's first: 'One More Time'.

Summer in the City was the first release on Joe's own label, Manticore, in association with Sony Classical.

Symphony No. 1

Studio

1999

Sony

Tracks: First Movement | Fast Movement | Slow Movement | Last Movement

Grammy Winner Symphony No. 1 won the 2000 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Recording

After several years (on and off) of work, Joe Jackson's First Symphony was finally released in October 1999. The work is cast in a fairly traditional four-movement form, but is not "classical" in style. For instance (to quote from Joe's liner note), "on the eve of the 21st century, a piece which was symphonic in structure surely didn't have to be written for a 19th-century orchestra to qualify as a symphony." Joe also had "a handful of very simple musical themes in my head and wanted to see if they could be developed and transformed throughout four whole movements. Gradually, I started to see the symphony as a person, like a character in a musical novel, traveling through four stages of life". Hence the final form of the piece, with the movements ("First," "Fast," "Slow," and "Last") roughly reflecting childhood, youth, mid-life and old age.

Built around Jackson's own keyboard playing and computer-sequenced synth parts, the Symphony also features an intriguing mix of musicians from many musical backgrounds, including Jazz trumpet star Terence Blanchard and ex-Zappa guitar virtuoso Steve Vai.

Many people who still think of Joe Jackson only as a pop singer/songwriter will probably see this project as a big departure. However, as readers of his book A Cure for Gravity (released around the same time) will discover, Joe started off as a composer and took a long detour through the pop world. He hasn't given up writing songs or singing; he's simply revealing more sides of a diverse talent.

Musicians:
Wessell Anderson - alto saxophone
Terence Blanchard - trumpet
Gary Burke - drums
Robin Eubanks - trombone
Mat Fieldes - electric & acoustic bass
Sue Hadjopoulos - percussion
Patti Monson - flute
Mary Rowell - electric & acoustic violin/viola
Steve Vai - electric guitar

Heaven & Hell

Studio

1997

Sony

Night Music

Studio

1994

EMU Int'l

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The Greatest Game Ever Played

Score

2005

Originally hired to write the whole score, Joe quit early on over disagreements over the musical direction. However, a couple of pieces of Joe's music are still in the movie, including a new adaptation of Angel, sung (as on Laughter and Lust) by Dawn Upshaw. Joe also makes his screen debut, playing a pub pianist in one scene.

Ironbound

Score

1995

Directed by Mitchell Walker; produced by Francis Ford Coppola

Ironbound is one of a series of short films made for VH-1, each based on the music of a particular artist. (Joe is no. 3 after Van Morrison and William Burroughs). All the music is from the album Night Music. The film represents a creative reunion for Jackson and Coppola, who worked together in 1988 when Joe wrote the score for Tucker - The Man And His Dream.

The White Cat

Score

1994

Narrated by Emma Thompson; illustrated by Barbara McClintock

This is part of the We All Have Tales series by Rabbit Ears productions - 'video story-books' for children. Many distinguished actors and musicians have contributed to this series. The White Cat is a French folk-tale. The music was written right after the recording of Night Music and features a similar blend of electronic and acoustic instruments. Available both as a video and as a storybook with cassette.

Three of Hearts

Score

1993

Directed by Yurek Bogayewicz
Starring Kelly Lynch, Sherilyn Fenn, and William Baldwin

Bisexual romantic comedy for which Joe was called in at the last minute. Despite having just two weeks to write and record the score, it's his favourite, next to Tucker. It is scored for eight string players, acoustic bass, and percussion, with Joe on piano. No soundtrack album.

I'm Your Man

Score

1992

Directed by Bob Bejan

This was the first Interactive movie to be shown in a theater. During a limited run in New York, LA and a couple of other cities, cinema seat arm-rests were fitted with three buttons connected to a computer enabling the audience to "vote" on which direction the story would take. Since there were always three alternatives, Joe had to write nearly an hour of music for a 20-minute film. The score was performed entirely by Joe on synthesizers. No soundtrack album.

Queen's Logic

Score

1991

Sony

Directed by Steve Rash, produced by Taylor Hackford
Starring Joe Mantegna, Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich, Jamie Lee Curtis

Not much original music in this one, but if you listen carefully you can hear Joe playing piano and organ, along with the band from the Big World album. The soundtrack album consists of old hit songs used in the film - no score.

Tucker

Soundtrack

1988

A&M

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by George Lucas
Starring Jeff Bridges, Martin Landau, Fredric Forrest, Joan Allen

Joe's most 'high-profile' movie project to date. It was recorded in London using some distinguished British jazz players along with the horns from the Jumpin' Jive album and Body and Soul band members Gary Burke, Ed Roynesdal and Vinnie Zummo.

Private Eye

Score

1987

2-hour pilot episode for Michael Mann/Tony Yerkovich TV series.

This series only lasted 6 episodes, but the pilot was released in cinemas and/or on video in certain territories. The score, one of Joe's best, features a big horn section and lots of latin percussion, as well as Joe on piano and Gary Burke on drums.

Shijin no Ie

Score

1985

This orchestral score was commissioned by the Daiei Corporation for an IMAX film shown at Science Expo 85, in Tsukuba, Japan. Joe was flown out to Tokyo to supervise the rehearsals and recording with the orchestra. A re-written version of this score appeared on Joe's Instrumental album Will Power, entitled Symphony in One Movement.

Mike's Murder

Score

1983

Lili

Directed by James Bridges. Starring Debra Winger.

Joe's first film score, written during the Night And Day Tour. Side One of the A&M soundtrack album consists of songs, including Memphis which was left over from the Night And Day sessions and got a fair amount of airplay. The other songs and the instrumental Side Two were written for the film. Unfortunately the film was drastically re-cut after the music was recorded, and not much of Joe's score made it into the final cut.

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William Shatner: Has Been

Studio

2004

Shout! Factory

Yes, William Shatner. This is a fantastically entertaining collaboration between Shatner and Ben Folds, who produced, arranged and co-wrote much of the music around Shatner's spoken lyrics. The album also includes a cover of Pulp's Common People, featuring Joe's vocals. Joe also sings and plays piano on two other tracks. Other guests on the album include Henry Rollins, Aimee Mann, Lemon Jelly and Brad Paisley.