WHAT: Howard Jones with Robin Boult.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., Manhattan; 212-355-6160 or ticketmaster.com.
HOW MUCH: $29.50.
WHERE TO HEAR: howardjones.com.
Howard Jones wants to serenade you up close and personal. This year will be the third time the British pop phenom of the '80s comes stateside for a January-February acoustic tour, hitting a circuit of small venues across the country.
"It suits the acoustic show," Jones explained. "It's very intimate."
In his performances, Jones -- who made his first big hit in 1983 with "New Song"-- goes back to his roots as a pianist and singer-songwriter. It's a relatively new turn in the career of a man who began by playing the synthesizer and who still does dance music.
"I like the challenge of pulling it off," said Jones. Stripping down to just a piano, guitar and his voice is "scary. But the frightening aspect of it keeps me feeling alive, like 'I've got to get this done.' " This Saturday, he'll be thrill-seeking at Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan.
Fans have stayed with him through the years as his performance style has changed, Jones added. "I realize that people stand in line because they like my songs," he said. "It doesn't have to be presented the same way I did them in the '80s."
Keeping his music fresh has been a continuous project. He recently collaborated with Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten, released his second piano solo album and even rewritten his hit song "Things Can Only Get Better" in the language of the computer game Sims 2, Simlish.
"Oh, that," said Jones with a laugh. "The guy who runs the whole [music] department at Electronic Arts [Steve Schnur] is a friend of mine from all the way in the '80s. I wouldn't have done it for anyone else, I think." But he did have a second consideration: his son, Jasper, is a Sims fan. "Wouldn't it be great if my song were in his game?"
Jones has a habit of writing songs for his friends and loved ones, which turned into the first and second volumes of "Piano Solos (For Friends & Loved Ones)."
"It comes down to giving someone a great present for a birthday or a wedding," he said. "I'd done three or four of them, and people really liked them, so I kept writing them." Fans were surprised by the instrumental turn that he took, but Jones has been a strong musician since the early days; he was Rolling Stone magazine's keyboard player of the year in 1986.
Now that he's working on a third volume of musical gifts, though, it's become something of a duty. "It's started to get to the point where it's like, 'Wait a minute, I haven't gotten one of these in a while,' " he said.
Sometimes, you can't hurry inspiration. His piece for his daughter Mica's 16th birthday wasn't complete until she was almost 17, but "it was worth it," Jones said. "I think it's one of the best pieces I've written."
E-mail: shih@northjersey.com
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