FOOL’S GOLD
Graham Maby supplies Joe Jackson with soul, substance & style
By Chris Jisi
IS
there a longer-running, more symbiotic relationship between bassist and singer– songwriter than the 45-year teaming of Graham Maby with Joe Jackson? The pair first got together in 1974 to cut three singles in the quartet Arms & Legs, a misfire that led Jackson to come roaring back as a solo artist and eventually cut his punk-edged, debut smash, Look Sharp! [1979, A&M]. On the bottom, the Gosport, England-born Maby — who had a “lightning-bolt moment” when he bought an Eko bass at age 16 and immersed himself in the ostinatos of Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, and Roger Glover — got a featured role, thanks to Jackson’s insistence that there would be no guitar solos in the band. Maby laughs, “I was young and exuberant, and trying to fill up every inch of space!” Jackson saw the bigger picture: a bassist with
38
BASS MAGAZINE ; ISSUE 2 ; bassmagazine.com
“extraordinary ears, a tasteful, fluid style, and a spot-on rhythmic sense,” who played “every note with conviction,” as he related in his 1999 autobiography, A Cure for Gravity [Anchor]. The partnership has endured many musical twists and turns brought on by Jackson’s broad range of musical influences and stunning creativity. The result is such classics sides as Jumpin’ Jive [1981, A&M], Night and Day [1982, A&M], Body and Soul [1984, A&M], and Rain [2008, Rykodisc]. Refocusing on songwriting after recent excursions through classical and jazz, Jackson issued a double album of song gems with 2015’s Fast Forward [Work Song]. Now he’s back with eight more exquisite, timely meditations on the modern condition on Fool [2019, Ear Music], vividly brought to life by his crack quartet with Maby, guitarist Teddy Kumpel, and drummer Doug Yowell. We checked in
