Joe Jackson Album: “Night Music”

One of the principal reasons I am a Joe Jackson fan is that he seems constantly to recreate himself and to explore new musical vistas, teaching me something along the way about jazz, classical, etc. He does it again on this album, a mood piece if there ever was one: best listened to between midnight and sunrise. The songs are perfectly crafted and rendered and most of them linger in my mind for days.

While browsing through a used tape and CD store, I stumbled across Night Music. Prior to it, my only real exposure to Joe Jackson was Night and Day. To say Night Music is a little different is an understatement. It is at once haunting, majestic, dark, sad, and exhilarating, but definitely not the pop- or jazz-infused work that most people know Jackson for. Do yourself a favor and find this CD.

I like to think of myself as pretty open-minded, and willing to follow Joe most anywhere he would go musically, but I was rather disappointed in this. Emphasis is on his slower, more introspective side. No more snotty tirades--he's growing, OK, but a lot of this music I think is pretty, but not terribly memorable. I like "Ever After" and "Danny Boy"; the rest is very slick stuff with not much substance. The production is very clean to the point of antiseptic, electric keyboards and synthesized strings all about. Background music for sure. I was much more impressed with "Heaven and Hell", his next project, I believe--good ideas, good songs, novel arrangements.