Read Joe's interview in Billboard
NOW AVAILABLE - jOE'S "BEST LIVE ALBUM YET"
As someone who has always thrived on live performance, JJ has released several live albums over the years. In his opinion, though, LIVE MUSIC – released in early June – is the best yet.
"This is a very, very, satisfying live record for me", says Joe: "After several years of playing with this trio lineup, I think we've proven that three people can put on a show that's never boring, and sounds much bigger and more varied than anyone expected. Graham and Dave have never played better, they're nothing short of astonishing on some tracks, and I have to say even the piano playing and singing are pretty good too! We've done hundreds of shows, and made friends in new places like South Africa, Israel, Turkey . . . I'm really proud of what we've done and I felt it just had to be documented."
Recorded on the trio's 2010 European tour, the album features new re-workings of some of JJ's best-known songs (from Look Sharp and Night And Day) as well as lesser-known ones from Blaze of Glory and Volume 4, and surprising cover versions of songs by John Lennon, David Bowie and Ian Dury.
LIVE MUSIC was released in Europe by Edel on June 3rd, and in North America by Razor & Tie on June 7th.
THE DUKE (News Update)
The recording of Joe’s next album project – an ambitious and eclectic re-interpretation of the music of Duke Ellington – is now entering ‘phase three’.
Back in March 2011, Joe was in Amsterdam recording with ‘Brazilectro’ wizards ZUCO 103 – including Zuco singer Lilian Vieira’s Portuguese version of the Ellington classic ‘Perdido’.
In May, a big chunk of recording was done in New York, this time featuring drummer AHMIR THOMPSON of THE ROOTS, bassist CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE, violinist REGINA CARTER, and two J J veterans, guitarist VINNIE ZUMMO and percussionist SUE HADJOPOULOS. Joe added vocals to four songs and Iranian singer SUSSAN DEYHIM recorded vocals for ‘Caravan’ – in Farsi translation. Meanwhile guitar legend STEVE VAI has been recording his contribution to two tracks in Los Angeles.
Others who have contributed include Berlin electronic musician KRIS INGRAM LANZARO, other members of The Roots (guitarist Kirk Douglas and sousaphone player Damon Bryson) and of course Joe himself on keyboards.
This latest round of recording started with IGGY POP recording a vocal in Miami for a duet with Joe on another Ellington classic, ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’. Joe is now finishing recording in New York, again with Thompson and McBride, a string quartet, and a couple of other special guests who we hope to announce soon.
The album is being recorded by legendary Grammy-winning producer/engineer ELLIOT SCHEINER. Mixing is scheduled for September and the release, for early 2012.
STOKER
Stoker is an original musical theatre piece about the life and the world of Bram Stoker, and tells the ‘back-story’ of how he came to create Dracula. Joe has been working on this project with writer Raymond Hardie and director Judy Dolan for several years on and off, and after several workshops and revisions, the team has now pronounced the work ‘ready to go’. Producer Michael Parva of The Directors Company in New York is now in talks with several theatres with a view to mounting a fully staged production.
BLUE NOTE COMPILATION
JJ was recently approached by Blue Note Records in the Netherlands to make a compilation of his favourite music from the label. This is the third in a series selected by famous jazz fans – compilations by Henry Rollins and Dutch singer/actress Carice have already been released.
Joe's selection consists entirely of music by his favourite Blue Note artists, Horace Silver and Art Blakey. The 2-CD set has just been released in the Netherlands, and releases are planned for the US, Canada, Germany, Belgium and Japan, though dates have not yet been set. Future releases will be compiled by Flea, Jamie Cullum, and Clint Eastwood.