Writing the book

By GARY GRAFF , The Oakland Press 07/12/2003

Four months later, Elvis Costello still expresses ambivalence about his induction into Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ''It's a box with some old things in it - let's get it straight,'' says Costello, 48, whose induction with his first band, the Attractions, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the release of his debut album, ''My Aim is True.'' ''It's a trip to the fun fair, that's all it is. It's a club. It was great to see the guys in my band and their families have a night out where we celebrated that we've lived long enough to have joined this crazy club. But really, in the long run, the people who put us in there I don't have any respect for, so ...''

He has no trouble courting respect for himself and his work, however. Of all the artists to emerge from Britain's punk/new wave scene of the late 1970s, only Joe Jackson has matched Costello's creative breadth and ambition.

Over the years, Costello has recorded everything from raging, righteous rock to rich pop suites, country, jazz and chamber orchestrations with such collaborators as ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and songwriting legend Burt Bacharach, the classical Brodsky Quartet and opera star Ann Sofia von Otter. Recently, he's written songs for R&B legends Solomon Burke and Howard Tate.

His current recording contract with the Interscope/ Universal consortium, in fact, allows him to place music on whichever of the company's labels are most appropriate for it.

So the singer-songwriter, whose biggest hit was 1983's ''Everyday I Write the Book,'' has, in fact, written his own rules for more than a quarter-century, crafting a career without the parameters that restrict most other artists.

''And at the same time,'' Costello adds, ''I also want to keep playing rock 'n' roll. I want it all. I'm sorry.''

Wide-open affairs Having announced his engagement to Canadian jazz/pop singer Diana Krall earlier this year, Costello is spending part of his summer playing rock 'n' roll, at least. He's out again with the Imposters, a group that includes Attractions members Stevie Nieve on keyboards and Pete Thomas on drums (but not estranged bassist Bruce Thomas). However, rather than continuing to promote the 2002 release ''When I Was Cruel,'' Costello says the shows are more wide-open affairs. ''We're playing everything I feel like playing,'' explains Costello, born Declan Patrick McManus in Liverpool, England, and now a resident of Ireland, mostly. ''I'm a professional musician; that's what I do - I play songs. We're playing all sorts of different tunes from all over the place, in any order, depending on the mood and the venue and everything. ''It's a pretty broad scope of things. Some nights we play a lot of very well-known songs, some nights we don't play any because that's the mood that I'm in and I feel that's what we need to do.''

Costello says he's occasionally playing ''Either Side of the Same Town,'' which he co-wrote with Jerry Ragavoy for the new Howard Tate album. But what fans won't hear, for now at least, is anything from ''North,'' the album Costello recorded earlier this year that's set for a Sept. 23 release.

''I really want people to hear the record first,'' explains Costello, who in addition to singing and playing on it also arranged and conducted the album's orchestrations. ''I want people to hear a very clear impression of the songs. When you're hearing a song for the first time, you're trying to take in the words and hear the shape of the melody.

''The only sort of venue you can do that in is a very small theater, where you can hear everything very clearly. That's not the kind of place we're playing this summer.''

Another shift Costello describes ''North'' as ''very different to the music that I'm playing now. It's quiet and very concentrated in emotion. We put a lot of work into getting it to sound the way it sounds.''

He acknowledges that it's another directional shift in a career that hasn't spent too much time in one particular area. But he long ago abandoned any pretense of playing to expectations, from the industry or even from his fans, and says ''North'' is simply the direction that his muse is taking him in at this particular moment.

''The most disquieting thing, in a way, is when music just starts to arrive in your head or at your fingertips,'' says Costello, who's also written an orchestral score for a new adaptation of Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream.''

''You don't have any choice, unless you're a real fool, but to take it on and try to work out what it is that's happening and follow it and see where it leads you. ''That's what I've been trying to do, at least.''

©The Oakland Press 2003