Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson has never been what you`d call a darling of the critics, and the feeling - after more than 30 years as a performer - is definitely mutual.

"I`m constantly being bashed for being eclectic, and at best, misunderstood," Jackson, 45, said by phone from Boulder, Colo., a stop along an abbreviated U.S. tour. "Every artist who ever tried to do something different has been misunderstood or criticized. Most of my favorite artists were." (They span, incidentally, Shostakovich to Steely Dan.)

Doing something different is old hat to Joe Jackson, who as a struggling musician in Portsmouth, England: played piano at the Playboy Club and on military bases; gigged at those pubs most likely to have strip shows or fist fights break out; and toured with a quarreling cabaret duo known as Koffee `n` Kreme. All the while studying keyboards, percussion, composition and orchestration at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Since breaking through with his major-label debut in 1978 ("Look Sharp," on A&M), Jackson, originally trained as a violinist, has defied both formula and pigeonholing. In addition to early forays into punk, jump-blues and even swing, Jackson has stretched the boundaries of pop, incorporating his love of jazz and percussive rhythm.

By the mid-`90s he was composing extended, nontraditional music and being labeled "classical." If it was "different" you craved, you needed to look no further than Jackson`s "Heaven and Hell," a 1997 work based on the Seven Deadly Sins, and his "Symphony No. 1," for which he won a Grammy in February for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

Winning a Grammy doesn`t necessarily mean Jackson`s stance toward critics has softened.

"I think my attitude is more realistic than it might have been 20 years ago," he allowed. "Sooner or later, you realize that good reviews don`t mean that much (but) it`s nice to have them."

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Bad reviews still irk Jackson, but he`s learned not to take those seriously, either - especially not those of the past. "I`m still here, 20 years later, and most of those guys (critics) are not."

"Eclectic" can be a convenient - and lazy - adjective, and Jackson says he wishes it was easier to categorize his music. But - and this is a big but - "It`s more important to me to be myself and to be appreciated for who I really am than it is to fit into some idea of what I should be doing."

Those who might have forgotten about Jackson, or looked askance at his recent projects, however ambitious, are appreciating him all over again thanks to his latest album, "Night and Day II." While not officially, to Jackson`s mind, a sequel to 1983`s classic "Night and Day," the two are thematically linked - by New York City, where he now lives.

New York in its many shades and eccentricities is evoked in both "Night and Day" and "Night and Day II," albums that are equally streetwise and sophisticated.

"New York is the connecting element and also the sound," Jackson said of the two works released 17 years apart. "They`re both keyboards, percussion and strings. Both have Latin rhythms and a `sound world` that I discovered on `Night and Day` that works for me still."

Ask Jackson what New York is, and you hear the answer not only in his words, but in the best of those two albums` songs. First, the words:

"Romance. Glamour. Sophistication. Filth. Depravity. I think it`s the city that has absolutely everything, and you never get tired of it. It`s an endless source of material."

As for the material, you not only hear New York but feel it on "Steppin` Out," "Another World," "Target" and "Chinatown," from "Night and Day"; and on "Hell of a Town," "Happyland" "Stay" or "Why," from "Night and Day II."

HIRED HAND

Living in, and walking around, New York City certainly had something to do with such songs. But Jackson doesn`t compose by grand design, or even not-so-grand design.

"I`m very chaotic," he said. "I just sort of stumble along in a very intuitive kind of way. Over the years, I`ve found that people assume I have much more of a plan than I really do. I`m constantly processing ideas and seeing where one fits with another."

Besides inspiration in common, "Night and Day" and "Night and Day II" both feature Sue Hadjopoulos on percussion and longtime Jackson cohort Graham Maby on bass. The two are on this tour as well.

When the tour is over, Jackson expects to take some time off. It`s been a busy couple of years. But don`t be surprised if he hires himself out as a keyboardist, as he recently did for Rickie Lee Jones.

"Everyone says, `Why did you work with Rickie?` And I say, because she called me," Jackson said. "I`d love to play the piano for more people. I`m available. To whoever calls, really."

(c)Copley News Service

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Author: David L. Coddon