Ronald Shannon Jackson | |
|---|---|
 Jackson at the 2011 Moers Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Born | January 12, 1940 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 19, 2013 (aged 73) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Percussionist |
| Years active | 1958–2013 |
| Labels | Antilles, DIW, Moers |
| Formerly of | The Decoding Society, Last Exit |
| Website | ronaldshannonjackson |
Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas.[1] A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and producer. Jackson and bassist Sirone are the only musicians to have performed and recorded with the three prime shapers of free jazz: pianist Cecil Taylor, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.[2]
Musician, Player and Listener magazine writers David Breskin and Rafi Zabor called him "the most stately free-jazz drummer in the history of the idiom, a regal and thundering presence."[3] Gary Giddins wrote "Jackson is an astounding drummer, as everyone agrees...he has emerged as a kind of all-purpose new-music connoisseur who brings a profound and unshakably individual approach to every playing situation."[4]
In 1979, he founded his own group, the Decoding Society,[1] playing what has been dubbed free funk: a blend of funk rhythm and free jazz improvisation.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
allmusicwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jackson and Sirone are cited as having recorded with these artists in discographies of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler.
- ^ Zabor, Rafi; David Breskin (June 1981). "Ronald Shannon Jackson: The Future of Jazz Drumming". Musician, Player and Listener: 64.
- ^ Giddins, Gary (2004): Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century. Oxford; Oxford University Press, p. 14; ISBN 0195156072