JOE JACKSON + BAND

Joe Jackson was born on August 11 1954 in Burton-on-Trent,
England, but grew up in the South Coast naval port city of
Portsmouth.

At age 16 Joe played his first paying gig, as pianist in a pub next door
to a glue factory just outside of Portsmouth. This was followed by
other pub gigs (in which he was often trying to entertain crowds of
drunken, bottle-throwing sailors) and accompanying a bouzouki
player in a Greek restaurant.

At age 18 Joe won a scholarship to study Composition, Piano, and
Percussion at London's Royal Academy of Music.
By 1978 Joe was living in London and hawking an album-length
demo, with his own band (Graham Maby, Bass; Dave Houghton,
Drums; Gary Sanford, Guitar) standing by. That demo - already
called Look Sharp - eventually found its way to American producer
David Kershenbaum, who was in London in the capacity of talent
scout for A&M Records. Joe was immediately signed and Look
Sharp more professionally re-recorded in August '78. The Joe
Jackson Band finally started to play regular gigs and the album was
released in January 1979.
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Joe Jackson's story up to this point is much more fully, fascinatingly,
and hilariously recounted in his book A CURE FOR GRAVITY. From
here on, though, it becomes more a matter of public record. Look
Sharp was followed within a year by the very similar I'm The Man,
and in 1980 by the darker, more reggae-influenced Beat Crazy. At the
end of 1980, drummer Houghton decided to quit, and Joe decided to
dissolve the band and try something new.
In 1981 Jackson recorded Jumpin' Jive, a 'musical vacation' paying
tribute to Swing and Jump Blues artists such as Louis Jordan and
Cab Calloway. Returning to songwriting, Joe spent a large chunk of
1982 in New York. The result was Night and Day, a more
sophisticated and melodic record built around keyboards and Latin
percussion, rather than guitars. With a new guitar-less band,
Jackson hit the road for a whole year, and the album became his
biggest success, going platinum in the US. During the tour Joe also
somehow found time to write his first film score, for James
Bridges'Mike's Murder. (He would go on to write several more,
including most notably for Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker in 1988).
Jackson's next album Body and Soul(1984) was in a similar vein to
Night and Day but featured a horn section (which, along with the Blue
Note-inspired cover art, led many people to wrongly assume he'd
made a jazz record). For Big World (1986) Jackson stripped
everything down to a 4-piece again, and recorded live, direct to 2-
track master. In 1989 he went in the opposite direction with the
majestic, semi-autobiographical Blaze of Glory, and toured with an
11-piece band. Laughter and Lust (1991) was more like a
mainstream (though still idiosyncratic) rock record, but yet another
lengthy world tour left Jackson exhausted and at a creative dead end.
As he sees it, his workaholic phase - which also included several
film scores, a live album (Live 1980-86), an instrumental album (Will
Power, 1987), guest appearances with Suzanne Vega, Ruben Blades
and Joan Armatrading, and endless touring - was over.
The 1990s brought some of his most challenging and eclectic works:
the gentle, soul-searching Night Music (1994), the ambitious and
original song-cycle based on the Seven Deadly Sins, Heaven and
Hell (1997), and the album Joe considers his best (and most
underrated): Night and Day II (2000). The turn of the century saw a
burst of creativity: Jackson won his first Grammy (Best Pop
Instrumental Album for the non-traditional, non-orchestral Symphony
No.1) and published his book A Cure For Gravity.
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In 2003 Joe re formed the original Joe Jackson Band for a stunning
new album, Volume 4, and a lengthy tour. The reunion was always
intended as a one-off, but it also produced a live album, Afterlife, in
2004.
By this time Jackson was living mostly back in London. He made
quite a few solo appearances, including on an unusual triple-bill tour
with Todd Rundgren and the string quartet Ethel. He sang and
played piano on Rickie Lee Jones' It's Like That and William
Shatner's Has Been (produced, arranged and co-written by Ben
Folds). He was also awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Academy of
Music and an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Portsmouth.
In 2006 Joe turned his attention back to pure songwriting and did a
short Trio tour with Graham Maby and Dave Houghton. Having failed
to happily re-establish himself in London, he moved to Berlin, where
his next album Rain was recorded in 2007. Consisting of ten
powerful, timeless new songs, Rain creates a surprisingly epic sound
with just voices, piano, bass and drums. The trio toured for the next
three years. A live album, Live Music, was released in 2011.
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in 2012 Joe released a tribute to one of his greatest musical heroes,
Duke Ellington. The Duke is an often radical re-interpretation of
fifteen Ellington classics, arranged into ten tracks, and featuring an
eclectic roster of guest artists including Iggy Pop, Ahmir ‘Questlove’
Thompson and other members of The Roots, Sharon Jones, Steve
Vai, and jazz violin star Regina Carter, who joined Joe on the
subsequent tour.
In 2015, Jackson announced the completion of his follow-up to The
Duke via his official website. The album's title, Fast Forward, and
track list were confirmed in addition to North American tour dates.
The titular first single was released for streaming via his official
SoundCloud page.

On 18 January 2019, Jackson released the album Fool. Jackson said
about the album on his website: "One of my inspirations for this
album was the band I've been touring with on and off for the last 3
years. I've had many different line-ups but this one is special."
Jackson and the band performed "Fabulously Absolute" on Jimmy
Fallon's Tonight Show on 21 January 2019.[20] Fool debuted in the top
20 album charts in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In
the US, it debuted at No. 25 on Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart. In
the UK, it entered the Indie Albums Chart at No. 13.
After a Covid induced layoff Joe toured the US and Europe in 2022
for a tour named “Sing, You Sinners!” featuring songs from his
catalog plus a few select covers. The tour featured his band Graham
Maby on Bass, Teddy Kumpel on Guitar and Doug Yowell on Drums.
Nov 24th 2023 saw the release of “Mr Joe Jackson Presents “What A
Racket”: The Music Of Max Champion”, a collection of songs written
by the long forgotten Music Hall performer Max Champion.
Joe toured during 2024 touring both the US and Europe performing a
2 part set. First part featured solo performances from his catalog. The
second part featured songs from the “What A Racket” album
performed with a 9 piece band.

April 2026 will see the release of a new album “Hope and Fury” and
extensive touring of both the US and Europe featuring a full band.
Jackson splits his time between New York, Portsmouth UK and
Berlin.