New Wave piano man Joe Jackson is tipping his hat to jazz legend Duke Ellington this summer with a new album called The Duke — featuring guest turns by the likes of Iggy Pop, The Roots’ ?uestlove, Steve Vai and Sharon Jones, among others — to be followed by a 14-date U.S. tour this fall featuring his “Bigger Band.”
The album, due June 26 on Razor & Tie, finds Jackson reinterpreting 15 Ellington standards over the course of 10 tracks, mixing “electronic and organic textures” on both instrumental and vocal tracks. Set features Jackson trading vocals with Pop on “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)” and with Jones on “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues.”
You can check out the first track to be released off the album — “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” which also includes bits of “Take the A Train” and “Cotton Tail” — via the player below.
Jackson will take The Duke on the road this fall with a six-piece band, beginning Sept. 15 in Bethesda, Md., and wrapping up Oct. 6 in Los Angeles, with a pair of shows at New York’s Town Hall in between. See full dates, as well as the album’s complete tracklist, below.
Tracklist: Joe Jackson, The Duke
1. “Isfahan”
2. “Caravan ”
3. “I’m Beginning To See The Light” – “Take The A Train”
4. “Mood Indigo”
5. “Rockin’ In Rhythm”
6. “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues” – “Do Nothin’ Till”
7. “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)”
8. “Perdido” – “Satin Doll”
9. “The Mooche” – “Black and Tan Fantasy
10. “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If You Ain’t Got That Swing)”
Joe Jackson tour dates:
Sept. 15: Music Centre at Strathmore, Bethesda, MD
Sept. 16: Peace Center Hall, Greenville, SC
Sept. 18: Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA
Sept. 19: Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA
Sept. 21: Town Hall, New York, NY
Sept. 22: Town Hall, New York, NY
Sept. 25: Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ
Sept. 27: Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI
Sept. 28: Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
Sept. 29: Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 2: Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA
Oct. 4: Lilian Fontaine Garden Theatre at Montalvo, Saratoga, CA
Oct. 5: Nob Hill Masonic Center, San Francisco, CA
Oct. 6: Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- New releases: Public Image Ltd. EP, plus Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson, World Party
- New releases: INXS, Sebadoh reissues; plus live albums by Gary Numan, Joe Jackson
- Video: Joe Jackson & The Roots play ‘Steppin’ Out’ on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’
*Yawn*