Joe Jackson Announces New Album, ‘Fast Forward,’ and 2015 North American Tour



Joe Jackson has announced that will release his first album since 2012′s Duke Ellington tribute, The Duke. The record, titled Fast Forward, will arrive Oct. 2, a few days after his next tour of North America is scheduled to begin.

Jackson split up the recording of the 16 songs on Fast Forward were equally between four cities — New York, Amsterdam, Berlin and New Orleans — with different musicians used in each location. New York saw him team up with longtime bassist Graham Maby and jazz stars Bill Frisell (guitar), Brian Blade (drums) and Regina Carter (violin), while he took advantage of New Orleans’ plethora of musicians, including three members of the funk band Galactic and a full horn section. “A Little Smile,” which is the first single and embedded above, was cut in Amsterdam. The full track listing, complete with the cities in which they were recorded, can be found below. “See No Evil” is a cover from Television’s 1977 classic Marquee Moon, and “Good Bye Jonny,” which was cut in Berlin, is a German cabaret song from the ’30s.

The tour, which will include Maby, guitarist Teddy Kumpel and drummer Doug Yowell, will kick off on Sept. 29 in Seattle, Wash., and conclude five weeks later in St. Paul, Minn., on Nov. 4. Jackson will serve as his own opening act by performing a short set at the piano. You can see all the dates below.

“We’re all strong singers,” Jackson said on his website, “and along with that and Teddy’s diversity and mastery of effects, and Doug’s use of electronic as well as live percussion, we’ll sound like a lot more than four people. This tour is going to be a lot of fun – I can’t wait.”

‘Fast Forward’ Track Listing

New York

1. “Fast Forward”
2. “If It Wasn’t for You”
3. “See No Evil”
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”

New Orleans

13. “Neon Rain”
14. “Satellite”
15. “Keep on Dreaming”
16. “Ode to Joy”

Joe Jackson 2015 North American Tour

9/29 — Seattle, Wash.
10/1 — Portland, Ore.
10/4 — Los Angeles, Calif.
10/8 — Denver, Col.
10/10 — Dallas, Texas
10/11 — Houston, Texas
10/12 — Austin, Texas
10/14 — New Orleans, La.
10/15 — Atlanta, Ga.
10/17 — Glenside, Pa.
10/20 — New York, N.Y.
10/21 — New York, N.Y.
10/22 — Boston, Mass.
10/23 — Washington, D.C.
10/25 — Pittsburgh, Pa.
10/26 — Albany, N.Y.
10/29 — Northampton, Mass.
10/30 — Toronto, Canada
11/2 — Chicago, Ill.
11/3 — Chicago, Ill.
11/4 — St. Paul, Minn.

I'm pretty sure I'm 100% catalog on JJ

I am.

I have Symphony #1 & Willpower.

I may sell "The Duke" one of these days; though I'm a huge DE fan, I think that is JJ's worst release.

I enjoy all three of those releases, even though they're not near the top of my list of JJ favorites. His music has been so consistently good over the course of his career that even his "worst" release is enjoyable. But since you're such a huge Ellington aficionado I can understand why "The Duke" may not have resonated with you.

'night and day" is so goddamn good, but then some of his other stuff...........

...is also so goddamn good?