Ron Jackson (born 1964) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and instructor.

Early life and career

Jackson was born in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on July 27, 1964, where his father was serving with the US Marines in Vietnam. He began playing the guitar at the age of 11 and played his first professional performance at the age of 15. He enrolled in the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

in 1982, concentrating on composition and arranging. In 1985 he left his graduate studies and spent two years in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he began playing the electric bass. In 1987 he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and resumed playing guitar. As a jazz guitarist he began touring North America and Europe.

Recording and touring career

1990s

In 1991 Jackson released ''A Guitar Thing'' at the age of 27, with collaborators including Benny Green,

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, and

Cecil Brooks III Cecil Brooks III (born 1959) is an American jazz drummer and record producer who has worked with Arthur Blythe, Russell Gunn, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Roseanna Vitro, Hannibal Lokumbe, and Jimmy Ponder. A native of the Homewood n ...

. This was his debut album as leader, and debuted at #26 on the R&R National Airplay chart. He followed this up with the album ''Thinking of You'', which he also released on

Muse Records Muse Records was a jazz record company and label founded in New York City by Joe Fields in 1972. Fields worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s. Several of the albums were previously released on Cobblestone Records. Muse also ...

. In the early 1990s Jackson fronted the Ron Jackson Quartet. In 1995 Jackson joined the group 5 Guitars Play Mingus, playing alongside

Russell Malone Russell Lamar Malone (November 8, 1963 – August 23, 2024) was an American jazz guitarist. He began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s. Biography Malone was born in ...

, leader Peter Leitch,

David Gilmore David Gilmore (born 5 February 1964) is an American jazz guitarist. Gilmore studied at New York University with Joe Lovano and Jim McNeely. In 1987, he began working professionally with the M-Base Collective and Ronald Shannon Jackson. In the ...

, and

Jack Wilkins Jack Rivers Lewis (June 3, 1944 – May 5, 2023), known professionally as Jack Wilkins, was an American jazz guitarist. Career A native of New York City, Wilkins grew up listening to his parents' music, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, a ...

, in New York venues like the ArtsCenter. He soon released an album of duets with

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called ''Song for Luis''. In 1996 took first prize in the Heritage International Jazz Guitar Competition. As his career has progressed he has continued to work alternative music gigs such as subbing in orchestral pits, playing weddings and other parties, working in jam bands, and other positions. He was also a member of the Rufus Reid Trio as well as the Randy Weston Group. In 1999 Jackson released the album ''Concrete Jungle'' with Nicki Parrott.

2000s

After the release of ''Concrete Jungle'', Jackson formed his own label Roni Music, and has since released his further albums independently. In 2003 Jackson released the album ''The Dream I had'', a combination of jazz standards and original compositions. In 2008 he released the album ''Flubby Dubby'' and in 2012 he released the album ''Burning Gums'', the eponymous debut album of the group of the same name. He has toured and recorded as a member of several groups, including the Greg Lewis Organ Monk Trio, and has played regularly in New York City at jazz clubs like Birdland,

Iridium Jazz Club The Iridium is a music club located on Broadway in New York City. The club featured weekly performances by Les Paul for nearly fifteen years. History The club opened in January 1994 at its original location, at 63rd Street and Broadway in t ...

, 55 Bar, and the

Blue Note Jazz Club The Blue Note Jazz Club is a jazz club and restaurant located at 131 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club's performance schedule features shows every evening at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm and a Sunday jazz brunch. The club h ...

. Acts and musicians Jackson has played with include

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

James Spaulding James Ralph Spaulding Jr. (was born July 30, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United states, Spaulding attended the Chicago Cosmopolitan School of Music. Between 1957 and 1961, he was a member of ...

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, Lonnie Smith,

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played alto s ...

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...

, Ralph Peterson Jr., and Greg Lewis.

Teaching

Jackson is a jazz educator and guitar instructor. He has held faculty positions at the

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in Downtown Newark in Newark, New Jersey, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (incl ...

, the Wells Fargo Jazz For Teens Program, the Brooklyn–Queens Conservatory of Music, and Jazz At

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. Jackson is also a contributor for Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Discography

As leader

* ''A Guitar Thing'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1992) * ''Thinking of You'' (Muse, 1994) * ''Song for Luis'' (Mastermix, 1996) * ''Concrete Jungle'' (Airmen, 1999) * ''The Dream I Had'' (Roni, 2003) * ''Flubby Dubby'' (Roni, 2008) * ''Burning Gums'' (Roni, 2011) * ''Akustik InventYours'' (Roni, 2014) * ''Standards and Other Songs'' (Roni, 2019) * ''Standards and My Songs'' (Roni, 2022)

References

External links

Ron Jackson's web site

Ron Jackson guitar instruction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Ron American jazz guitarists American jazz educators African-American jazz composers 1964 births Living people African-American jazz guitarists American male guitarists American lead guitarists American acoustic guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American male jazz composers American jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians