Joe Jackson Live in Tokyo (2001)

After charging through One More Time Wild West and You Cant Get What You Want Until You Know What You Want at a punishing clip one might expect the softspoken Joe Jackson to shift to a lower gear Instead the onetime musical prodigy pub band pioneer and now eclectic composer revisits one of his even faster earlier hits On Your Radio If most performers risk monotony with such a move Jacksons quiet charisma in this 1986 performance encourages pleasurable surrender and in his more mature material careful attention to his uniquely marbled tones rhythms and colors Steeped in the influences of swing Latin music classical composition and melodic balladry Jackson is full of mixandmatch surprises such as a delicate reimagining of Steppin Out and a growling funky Soul Kiss This is a pure delight from start to finish Special features could be more special however a Jackson discography would have made sense with such a farreaching playlist