Ron Jackson

A highly regarded jazz guitarist, Ron Jackson specializes in playing the seven-string guitar, a distinction that helps set apart his deep grasp of the acoustic jazz tradition. He first garnered attention in the '90s with several hard bop dates for Muse, including A Guitar Thing and Thinking of You. He has also played with such luminaries as Taj Mahal, Nicki Parrot, Rufus Reid, and others. Since forming his own Roni Music with 2003's The Dream I Had, Jackson has released a series of inventive small group albums, including 2008's Hammond organ-accented Flubby Dubby, 2011's trio date Burning Gums, and 2014's Akustik InventYours with guitarist Dan Garcia. 2019's Standards and Other Songs found him digging into classic songs and newer hits alike, including Drake's "Passionfruit." He applied a similar approach to 2022's Standards and My Songs, playing many of his own compositions. Born in 1964 in the Philippines (where his father was stationed during the Vietnam War), Jackson grew up in Boston. It was there that he started playing guitar around age 11 and by his teens was already playing gigs. After high school, he studied composition and arranging at Berklee College of Music. He also sought out private study, mentoring with such masters as Pat Martino, Barry Harris, Melvin Sparks, Mike Stern, and Bucky Pizzarelli. Leaving college, he spent two years playing bass in Paris before finally moving to New York City in the late '80s and refocusing his attention on guitar. As a leader, he debuted on Muse with 1991's A Guitar Thing, a straight-ahead session featuring pianist Benny Green, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Cecil Brooks III. A second Muse date, Thinking of You, arrived three years later and featured the same lineup but with Aaron Graves taking over piano duties from Green. Throughout this period, he led his own quartet and appeared with the guitar supergroup 5 Guitars Play Mingus, also featuring Peter Leitch, Russell Malone, David Gilmore, and Jack Wilkins. He also paired with bassist Rufus Reid for the duo album Song for Luis and collaborated with bassist Nicki Parrott on 1999's Concrete Jungle. In the early 2000s, Jackson launched his own Roni Music, heralding the label with 2003's The Dream I Had, which found him playing standards and his own original compositions. He followed with 2008's Melvin Sparks-produced Flubby Dubby, leading a Hammond organ ensemble that featured organist Kyle Koehler, drummer Otis Brown, III, and guest saxophonists Don Braden and Bruce Williams. Burning Gums arrived in 2011 and featured Jackson's band of the same name. In 2014, he joined fellow guitarist Dan Garcia for Akustik InventYours. A trio album, Standards and Other Songs, arrived in 2019 and found Jackson playing his seven-string guitar alongside bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Darrell Green. Along with some American Popular Song favorites, he also offered bold renditions of more contemporary pop hits, including Brian McKnight's "Anytime" and Drake's "Passion Fruit." The companion album, Standards and My Songs, appeared in 2022 and featured bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Willie Jones, III.
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