Last update - 00:00 12/03/2008
After 30 years, musician Joe Jackson realizes dream of playing in Israel
By Shayla Howell
It's taken almost thirty years and nearly two dozen albums and countless tours, but Joe Jackson is finally coming to Israel.
The Grammy award-winning jazz musician and composer says he's always wanted to play here, and has tried to arrange it "at least two or three times I can remember," he says over the phone from Paris," for some reason it never worked out logistically."
He's clearly found a way to please the touring gods this time round as the tour for his most recent CD, "Rain," will take him to several places he's never been before, including Israel.
"Rain" is Jackson's first release in four years and the second since publishing his debut novel "A Cure for Gravity." The man made famous for bemoaning the "pretty women out walking with gorillas" in 1979 says the process of writing a book directly affected his process of writing songs.
"I think [writing the book] helped. I think that's why I've gotten better as a lyricist in the last 5 years. I used to sort of throw the lyrics together as best I could, then the song was recorded and released. I didn't think about it that much and now I'm much more particular. And if I think something isn't quite good enough, then I'll be brutal with it," Jackson states.
While his lyrics are notable, "Rain" puts the music, especially Jackson's piano, front and centre. He's touring this time as part of a trio, with Graham Maby on bass and Dave Houghton on drums. With no guitar, the album is strongly melodic and has a jazzy feel (particularly on the Ramsey Lewis-inspired track "Uptown Train") which verges at times on theatrical.
But even after decades living away from his native U.K., Jackson can't seem to shake an audible British sneer, and the belligerent "King Pleasure Time" could find place on any one of Jackson's skinny necktie albums of the 80s.
Longtime fans are accustomed to his unapologetic leaps from one genre to another - new wave, ska, pop, jazz, and latin music. It's precisely this curiosity in various musical traditions that keeps him both interested and interesting.
"I think if you really love music you're going to be open to different kinds of music" he says over the phone from Paris. "I think people who are kind of obsessed with one genre are not really music lovers, I think they're fetishists, or as we say in England, trainspotters."
His shows will, of course, feature new tracks from "Rain," but the musician notes that he makes sure to play favorites and always builds in a few surprises.
"We play two shows in Tel Aviv, and they'll be completely different shows. Completely different set. It's good to give the audience certain moments of familiarity, but also be free and surprising, keep it fresh. We have three different versions of "Steppin Out" so even the same song can change from night to night," Jackson says.
While in Israel, Jackson is looking forward to checking out Tel Aviv. "Everybody tells me that Tel Aviv is a pretty happening place culturally, not a particularly religious place and pretty cosmopolitan, so that sounds great to me."
A strong advocate of smokers' rights, Jackson has heard of Tel Aviv's healthy appreciation of tobacco. "A friend of mine recently went to Israel for a wedding, and he said that not only could you smoke everywhere, but he went to the gym to work out and there was an ashtray next to the exercise bike. Which I thought was brilliant!"
Joe Jackson plays a soldout show on March 25 at the Zappa Goldstar, and
March 26 at the Hangar in Tel Aviv port.
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