Released 25/06/2012
"I revere Duke Ellington, but I didn't want this to be a reverent album," Joe Jackson says of The Duke, his new tribute to American jazz giant Ellington.The Duke finds the iconoclastic English singer/composer/arranger/keyboardist and five-time Grammy nominee interpreting 15 Ellington classics over the course of ten tracks, interspersing melodic and rhythmic elements of various compositions in a manner that's consistent with Ellington's own freewheeling approach. Rather than emulating the songs' original big-band settings, Jackson filters the material through his own musical imagination while exploring an assortment of unexpected grooves and textures. The resulting album is a seamless fusion of sounds and styles, whose abundant sense of playfulness is consistent with Ellington's boundary-breaking attitude.
Jackson's distinctive voice is featured on I'm Beginning To See The Light, Mood Indigo, and I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good), while It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) finds him trading vocals with punk icon Iggy Pop. R&B diva Sharon Jones, meanwhile, shines with a soulful I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues. In keeping with Ellington's multiculturalism, Jackson also encouraged Iranian singer Sussan Deyhim to perform a soaring Caravan in Farsi, and Lilian Vieira, of the Brazilian/Dutch collective Zuco 103, to create a sunny, sexy Portuguese version of Perdido. The album's striking mix of electronic and organic textures is especially evident on instrumentals like Isfahan, Rockin' In Rhythm, The Mooche, and Black and Tan Fantasy. The musicians include two contemporary jazz stars, violinist Regina Carter and bassist Christian McBride; rock guitar hero Steve Vai; drummer Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and other members of The Roots; and two of Jackson's old associates, guitarist Vinnie Zummo and percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos. The album was recorded and mixed by the legendary Elliot Scheiner (Steely Dan, Sting, Bob Dylan).
Disc 1: Isfahan (Instr.) Caravan (Vocals By Sussan Deyhim) I'm Beginning To See The Light / Take The 'A' Train / Cotton Tail (Vocals By Joe Jackson) Mood Indigo (Vocals By Joe Jackson) Rockin' In Rhythm (Instr.) I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues / Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me (Vocals By Sharon Jones) I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Vocals By Joe Jackson) Perdido / Satin Doll (Vocals By Lilian Vieira) The Mooche / Black And Tan Fantasy (Instr.) It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (Vocals By Joe Jackson And Iggy Pop)