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Brian Jackson | |
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_in_2005.jpg) Jackson in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Brian Robert Jackson (1952-10-11)October 11, 1952 (age 73) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz,soul |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments | Keyboards,flute, vocals |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Website | brianjackson |
Brian Robert Jackson (born October 11, 1952)[1] is an Americankeyboardist,flautist, singer, composer, andproducer known for his collaborations withGil Scott-Heron in the 1970s. The sound of Jackson'sRhodes electric piano andflute accompaniments featured prominently in many of their compositions, most notably on "The Bottle" and "Your Daddy Loves You" from their first official collaborationWinter in America.
Jackson was born inBrooklyn,New York, United States,[1] to Clarence and Elsie Jackson, respectively a New York State parole officer and a librarian at theFord Foundation. He spent the first two years of his life inBedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, later sharing a house in theFlatbush section of Brooklyn with his uncle Howard, wife Dorothy and young cousin Sidney until his parents separated by the time he was five.
Unable to take on the responsibility of sharing mortgage payments alone, Elsie was forced to move to a one-bedroom apartment inCrown Heights, Brooklyn until she remarried in 1968.
Jackson studied music inFort Greene with his mother's childhood teacher, Hepzibah Ross (fondly called 'Aunt Heppie') with whom he took lessons for seven years. When Elsie was unable to continue payments for lessons, Aunt Heppie granted him a scholarship, simply stating that Jackson showed 'great promise.'
His mother later married Alvin S. Lovell, a general practitioner from Bedford-Stuyvesant who often donated his services to uninsured residents in the community. In 1968, their daughter and Brian's sister, Alison Lovell, was born.
From 1965 until 1969, Jackson attended Brooklyn'sErasmus Hall High School, where he met other musicians and began to form bands on the outside while participating in school music programs.
Jackson metGil Scott-Heron while the two were attendingLincoln University (Pennsylvania).[1] They began a decade-long writing, producing, and recording partnership. Jackson composed most of the music that he and Scott-Heron together performed and recorded. In 1971, the two released their first album together,Pieces of a Man,[2] withRon Carter onbass. Other notable albums includeFree Will (1972) andWinter in America (1974), which was the first to have Jackson receive co-billing, and which was later described by Barney Hoskyns inUNCUT as "a masterwork of ghetto melancholia and stark political gravitas".[3] His biggest hit was with Scott-Heron, 1974's "The Bottle". By 1979, they had recorded ten albums, with other unreleased material surfacing on subsequent Scott-Heron releases following their 1980 split.
Jackson continued to be active in the 1980s and 1990s, working withEarth, Wind & Fire,Will Downing andGwen Guthrie.[1] Jackson's first solo album,Gotta Play (released October 2000), included guest performances byRoy Ayers and Scott-Heron. Jackson's other credits include work withRoy Ayers,Kool and the Gang,Janis Siegel (ofManhattan Transfer),Will Downing,Gwen Guthrie,Pete Miser of (Radio Free Brooklyn) on his solo album,Camouflage is Relative,Alabama 3MOR, andCarl Hancock Rux (Homeostasis).
From 1983 to 2017 Jackson was a programmer and project manager in the IT Division of the City of New York.[4]
Jackson worked withAli Shaheed Muhammad andAdrian Younge on a project called Jazz is Dead. It was released in 2021.[4]
In 2022, Brian Jackson released his first solo album in over 20 years,This Is Brian Jackson. It was produced byPhenomenal Handclap Band founder Daniel Collás and released onBBE Music.[5]
WithWill Downing
With Gil Scott-Heron
With others
Brian Jackson is married and has five children. Brian plans to move with his family to France in the summer of 2024.[4]
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