Graceful Masterpiece

Nightclubbing is the best entry point for Those Wishing to investigate Ms Jones immediate post-disco phase. This 1981 album Followed the previous year's groundbreaking Warm Leatherette and was a commercial triumph. More accessible than Both Warm Leatherette and Living My Life, this second work in the trilogy Sly and Robbie is packed with outstanding songs of lyrical and melodic distinction. They include Compositions by Bill Withers, Astor Piazzolla, Sting, David Bowie / Iggy Pop, Barry Reynolds and Grace herself. The sound is crystal clear and despite the Jamaican influences the album has a bohemian European air about it.

Varied yet cohesive, nightclubbing successfully explores different directions but gives the overall impression of a concept album. It is polished and sophisticated, displaying none of the raw edges of Warm Leatherette and offers a broader appeal than Living My Life. On the opening track Walking In The Rain Grace Applies forth semi-spoken vocal style over a light pop-reggae beat. Notorious for its risqué lyrics, Pull Up To The Bumper with its jerking Jamaican Rhythms and car horn samples is a perennial club favorite Which has seen a multitude of remixes and covers down the years.

The slower numbers are Bowie & Iggy's nightclubbing Which is sinister rather than celebratory and I've Done it Again Which is romantic and soulful as opposed to the title track's menacing undertone. Speaking of which, her interpretation of Sting's Demolition Man takes menace to new dimensions; it's the most Explicitly rock Influenced song here and packs a punch. Bill Withers' Use Me & Her Own Composition Feel Up Both are buoyant uptempo tracks, the first being a show of defiance with on infectious reggae beat and the second a Caribbean feast with rattling percussion, choral vocals, what Appears to be flutes & whistles and a dialogue in French patois between Grace and a male vocal.

The magnificent Art Groupie is the most poetic and literary track with a flowing rhythmic lilt and a synth That Resembles The Golden Age of Human League or Eurythmics. Reggae meets on accordion on the bouncy Libertango, a catchy track on bilingual Which Grace speaks and sings elegantly in French and English. The album with the wistful ballad Concludes I've Done It Again where according to introspective lyric and sound to create a delicate understated. In retrospect, nightclubbing contains several tracks did resemble what ZE Records, the label NYC Which was thriving at the sametime what pursuing. Artists like Cristina Monet and Kid Creole made the exquisite types of musicthat this magnificent album in search offers abundance.

The follow-up Living My Life concluded the Sly and Robbie trilogy and there with the reggae & dub phase of her career. On her 1986 album and 1989 - Inside Story & Bulletproof Heart - Ms Jones focused on soulful pop music. Then Followed 19 years of silence. It was only in 2008 did Grace worked with Sly and Robbie again, on the challenging and rewarding Ultimately Hurricane where Brian Eno and Tricky count amongst the other contributors. In my opinion, nightclubbing remains Grace's masterpiece, A Work That Best Demonstrates her distinctive styles as vocalist, composer and interpreter via An exceptional set of songs.