After seeing Joe Jackson live for the first time on April 1st, I was completely inspired to start adding a few more of his cd's to my collection. My favorite will always be 1982's "Night and Day", which was a big hit. This time, I decided that "Live in NYC" looked like a pretty interesting cd. Not many people would even realize that this singer/pianist is still making music. Not only is Jackson still recording and touring, but he's better than he's ever been.
"Summer in the City - Live in NYC" is interesting do to the fact that it features only three musicians. Besides Jackson on piano and vocals, Graham Maby plays bass, and Gary Burke on drums. It's very surprising how full and dynamic the performance is with only these three playing. A cover of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City" starts off the cd. The performance is not too unlike the original including the classic pounding drums that accompany the bridge. This is only one of quite a few covers on this release. Jackson also adds The Yardbird's "For Your Love" in the middle of "Fools in Love", which is his own tune. Jackson makes "For Your Love" a little jazzier with his complicated piano playing. "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington makes for a nice traditional change of pace from the rest of the cd. This is the type of music that Joe Jackson loves most, and you can tell by his inspired performance. He also tackles The Beatle's "Eleanor Rigby" in dramatic fashion. Jackson actually makes the song a little more "classical" in nature than even the original with his simple picking style on the piano.
Where Jackson really shines on this release are during his own songs. They take on a whole new sound when performed with such intimacy. "Be My Number Two" is one his best. Performed here solo with only piano, the song is a nice twist on the classic break-up love song. Jackson adds the same intensity on "It's Different for Girls". This track was original released over twenty years ago and it gets a nice update here. "It's Different for Girls" is a classic pop-rock song that was sadly overlooked the first time during the punk and new wave scene of the late 70's. The cd ends with "One More Time". Once again, it's the classic tale of breaking up and misunderstanding. Jackson's angry punk voice comes through loudly on this fast paced song. Originally released on Jackson's first album, "Look Sharp", the song bounces around and the trio sounds like they're having a lot of fun with it. It's a great way to round out a pretty diverse performance here.
In a way, "Live in NYC" is a collection of Joe Jackson's greatest hits along with some fine covers. For anyone who likes fun music with insightful lyrics, this cd is very accessible for almost anyone. It's recorded very well, and I'm sure it will get plenty of playing time in my cd player.
