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“It occurred
to me, because it’s the kind of stupid thing people say,” Jackson
replies with a laugh. “I thought it was appropriate, and it works
for me, and I think I am entitled. It’s my music. I think I’m
allowed to quote myself. It’s not as if I’ve done 20 albums
that are all the same. I have never quoted myself before, but I think
it’s really appropriate musically and thematically, and because I’ve
paid my dues. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and if I want to
quote myself, I’m allowed.”
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Joe
Jackson (click for larger image)
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The idea for the “spin-off”
project didn’t come to Jackson until he was ensconcsed in the creating
of this current record. “It started to evolve very loosely as a project
about New York City, because I’ve been here for quite a long time,
and I had so many observations of characters and situations that I wanted
to write about. It’s been building up in the back of my mind, I suppose.
Usually, if there is an overall concept to an album I do, it takes shape
as I go along. I don’t really start off with a concept. It was the
same thing with Heaven and Hell. It started with certain ideas and then
grew. Somewhere along the line, I start to see the shape of it more, and
that starts to influence how I work. In this case, once I had two or three
of the songs written, I started to think of it as 24 hours in New York
City from the point of view of several different characters. The idea
of calling it Night and Day II really came a lot later. In fact, I wasn’t
sure it was a great idea, to be honest. The title sets me up for comparisons
that may or may not be helpful.
“Night and Day really wasn’t a concept album about New York
at all, and Night and Day II is much more so. The first one was the first
record I made in New York, and it does have quite a lot of New York flavor
but from the point of view of someone who was still relatively new to
the city, whereas Night and Day II is obviously someone jaded and cynical,”
he says. “I’m kidding, of course. I would hate people to think
that was the main thrust of it, because I think it has a lot of humor
and other stuff going on. I think it has a lot of different levels to
it. It’s more of a nuanced, mature perspective.”
He can’t recall how it came to him to re-use the “Steppin’
Out” bell part, except to note that it has come to define a piece
of the New York City vibe. “I like bright, tinkly sounds,” Jackson
ponders. “I know when I was writing it I was thinking of the city
skyline at night and lots of lights, and I think all those chiming kinds
of piano chords and bells conjure up those lights.”
The new album, which was recorded to Sony 3348 at Avatar Studios and mixed
on the SSL Axiom MT in their “D” room, opens with an interesting
juxtaposition of classical cello and Latin rhythms that both mesh and
conflict simultaneously. “I guess if I wanted to analyze myself,
it would probably say something about the energy and excitement of the
city, as well as a note of lyricism and melancholy, which is all mixed
up,” Jackson comments.
For Dan Gellert, engineer and associate producer, one of the greatest
challenges—and loves—in Jackson’s music is the combining
of such different worlds: the acoustic instrumentation with the programmed
synth parts, and the meshing of the sonic properties that involves.
REC
NOTES | NEXT
Reprinted with
permission from 
Magazine, November, 2000
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved
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