Songwriter Joe Jackson travelled the world to record ‘Fast Forward,’ his first collection of original songs in seven years.
Originally conceived to be released as a series of EPs, the album was produced and arranged by Jackson, and features four sets of four songs recorded in four different cities ‘ New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Amsterdam ‘ each with a different set of first-call supporting musicians. The results rank among the richest and most rewarding music of his storied career.
NEW YORK
Jackson has called New York home for many years. He recorded these tracks with Bill Frisell on guitar, Brian Blade on drums, his long-time bassist Graham Maby, and jazz violin star Regina Carter. Along with three originals including the album’s title track, these sessions feature a scorching take on a New York classic, Television’s ‘See No Evil.’
AMSTERDAM
Distinguished by the most diverse instrumentation of the four sessions, Jackson is joined on these songs by frequent collaborators Stefan Kruger and Stefan Schmid from the band Zuco 103, the Concertgebouw orchestra, and the project’s only guest vocalist, 14-year-old Mitchell Sink.
BERLIN
Berlin is Jackson’s second home, and he recorded here with two expatriate American musicians: acoustic bass master Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, Ornette Coleman, Bob Dylan) and Tindersticks´ drummer Earl Harvin. These sessions produced the album’s second cover, Jackson’s modern English take on the 1930s German ‘Kabarett’ song ‘Good Bye Jonny.’
NEW ORLEANS
Jackson travelled to one of his favourite cities, New Orleans, to record with an all-local cast including three members of the funk band Galactic – drummer Stanton Moore, bassist Robert Mercurio, and guitarist Jeff Raines ‘ and a horn section led by saxophonist Donald Harrison.
Details for the ‘Fast Forward’ European tour will be announced shortly. These career-spanning shows will feature Jackson ‘as my own opening act,’ playing a short solo/piano set before bringing out a full band which will include Maby on bass, guitarist Teddy Kumpel (Rickie Lee Jones, Feist), and drummer Doug Yowell (Suzanne Vega, Ari Hest).
Joe Jackson’s last release, 2012’s ‘The Duke,’ was an ambitious, horn-free tribute to a ‘fellow music pioneer’ (NPR) Duke Ellington, which Rolling Stone hailed as ‘movingly subtle.’
‘Fast Forward’ tracklist (all songs written by Joe Jackson unless noted)
New York
1. Fast Forward
2. If It Wasn’t For You
3. See No Evil (Tom Verlaine)
4. Kings Of The City
Amsterdam
5. A Little Smile
6. Far Away
7. So You Say
8. Poor Thing
Berlin
9. Junkie Diva
10. If I Could See Your Face
11. The Blue Time
12. Good Bye Jonny (Peter Kreuder and Hans Fritz Beckmann)
New Orleans
13. Neon Rain
14. Satellite
15. Keep On Dreaming
16. Ode To Joy
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