Jackson Makes Magic

by James Muretich
Calgary Herald 95/04/24

Submitted by Andrew Tupper - andrewt@BoM.GOV.AU - (as posted to the Joe Jackson mailing list by Captain Error - parry@geo.ucalgary.ca)

[Joe Jackson, with Paul Kelly opening, at the Centre's Jack Singer Hall Sunday night. Attendance: about 1600]

There are concerts where one gets what one expects. No real surprises. A solid show. The hits, if there are any, and songs done the way one has heard them before on disc.

Then, there are concerts where one is treated to something special. Very special. A sense of intimacy with the artist on stage. Hits rearranged in a way that breathes new life into them without losing their original spirit. Other compositions presented in an inventive and creative fashion. All in all, a show that makes you smile and also transports you to that magical realm music can take you to.

And it was just such a special concert that Joe Jackson presented Sunday evening at the Centre's Jack Singer Concert Hall, a concert that touched upon all the many varied aspects of his career and gave the near sell-out audience a warm and arresting glimpse into the heart and soul of a most unique composer, singer, and performer.

Jackson may have first emerged upon the music scene as the hissing cousin of such rock artists as Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, he may have then touched upon everything from reggae to big band and orchestral works, but he has now settled nicely into an almost nouveau popular-classical composer whose songs - instrumental and vocal - incorporate all his various interests with a rare degree of sensitivity and intelligence.

Sitting at the piano and backed by an outstanding group featuring percussionist Sue Hadjopolous, bassist-guitarist Graham Maby and multi-instrumentalist-vocalist Allison Cornell, Jackson did everything from a solo rendition of old tunes like It's Different For Girls to Latin-flavored numbers, his own brand of pop-rock and works from last year's sadly overlooked Night Music (including the beautiful The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy).

In between, he explained numbers, cajoled the audience and was all together charming.

It was classical and yet populist, popular and yet classy. It was topical, tuneful, and, above all, quite unlike any show that has visited this city in ages.

It was also opened in an evocative fashion by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly who in a mere 30 minutes, and armed only with his voice and an acoustic guitar, proved that he is an insightful, articulate artist who deserves a far wider audience in North America than he has so far been accorded.