Joe Jackson and his original band have reunited to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of their debut recording, Look Sharp!, with a tour this spring to support their new album, Volume 4. The circuit will kick off in New Orleans on March 14th -- three days after the record is due -- and its North American leg will conclude with three shows in New York a month later.

Jackson told Rolling Stone that the new album is "high-energy, fun and definitely in the spirit of the first couple of albums -- without trying to recreate it."

The band includes Jackson (piano, vocals), Graham Maby (bass), Gary Sanford (guitar) and Dave Houghton (drums). Along with Look Sharp!, they collaborated on 1979's I'm the Man and 1980's Beat Crazy before dissolving at the end of that year.

Last fall's short tour of England to warm up for the Volume 4 sessions was the first time everyone in the band had played together in twenty-two years, but Jackson claims the time off has helped, not hurt, the sound. "We've all evolved and matured, and the music will reflect that," he said. "We can all play a lot better than we ever could back then, and I'm a much better writer and singer. And we're not fat -- I've still got a thirty-two-inch waist!"

Not that any newfound maturity will prevent Jackson from dusting off the buoyant pop-rock hits that established him as one of Britain's leading Angry Young Men. "For awhile I was really sick of [Look Sharp's breakout hit] 'Is She Really Going Out With Him,'" he said, "but now I like it again. I really still love [I'm the Man's] 'Different for Girls' and fast ones like [Look Sharp's] 'Got the Time,' and we'll be playing all of those on tour."

Joe Jackson Band tour dates:

3/14: New Orleans, House of Blues
3/15: Austin, TX, SXSW
3/16: Dallas, Deep Ellum
3/18: Tempe, AZ, Bash on Ash
3/22: Los Angeles, El Rey Theater
3/24: San Francisco, The Fillmore
3/27: Boulder, CO, Fox Theater
3/29: Minneapolis, First Avenue
3/30: Chicago, Vic Theater
4/1: Pontiac, MI, Clutch Cargo
4/2: Toronto, Phoenix Theater
4/4-5: Boston, The Paradise
4/7: Washington, D.C., 9:30 Club
4/8: Philadelphia, Theater of Living Arts
4/11: New York, Irving Plaza
4/12: Brooklyn, Warsaw
4/13: New York, Bowery Ballroom

AUGUSTIN SEDGEWICK and JOHN D. LUERSSEN
(January 6, 2003)