JOE JACKSON

Joe Jackson, who first found success in the late 70s pop/rock world, has managed to retain the singular vision evident in his early work, without ever being beholden to it. After defining his sound with his first two albums Look Sharp and I’m the Man, Jackson began to take his music in a direction more informed by his formal conservatory training and his varied musical interests, exploring everything from blues and swing to classical music on the records that followed. The result is an artist who continues to approach pop and rock idioms with a sophisticated sensibility. In addition to making records and touring, he has scored a handful of films, including James Bridges’ Mike’s Murder and Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker, to critical acclaim. He has also written a book about the early years of his life predating his commercial success, entitled “A Cure for Gravity”. In recent years, Joe Jackson has been awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Music in London, his alma mater, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Portsmouth. He spends most of his time between Berlin and New York, and most recently released Fast Forward (2015). Composed, produced and arranged by Jackson, Fast Forward features four sets of four songs each recorded in four different cities – New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Amsterdam – each with a different set of guest musicians. The New York sessions feature Brian Blade, Bill Frisell, Regina Carter, and Graham Maby; the Amsterdam sessions feature the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stefan Kurger and Stefan Schmid from Zuco 103, as well as Mitchel Sink from the cast of Matilda; the Berlin sessions feature Greg Cohen and Earl Harvin; and the New Orleans sessions feature a horn section led by Donald Harrison in addition to three members of the funk band Galactic: Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio, and Jeff Raines. Fool is the 20th studio album, recorded the day after the end of his Fast Forward tour at the Tonic Room Studios in Boise, Idaho. Jackson had decided to record the album in whichever city the tour finished, which happened to be Boise after a performance at the Egyptian Theatre. It was released on 18 January 2019 through Edel AG.