Ronald Shannon Jackson
Encyclopedia
Ronald Shannon Jackson is an American
jazz
drummer
. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas
.
Jackson is notable for his unusual approach to his instrument, which draws as much inspiration from military and parade bands as from traditional jazz drumming.
He is the only person to have recorded and performed with the three prime shapers of free jazz
: pianist Cecil Taylor
, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman
and Albert Ayler
.
In 1979, he founded his own group, the Decoding Society, playing what has been dubbed free funk
: a blend of funk
rhythm
and free jazz
improvisation. Its recordings include Eye on You, Mandance, Street Priest, Barbeque Dog, Decode Yourself and When Colors Play. Vernon Reid
(Living Colour
), and Melvin Gibbs
(Harriet Tubman (group), Rollins Band
) both started their careers with Jackson. Both played and recorded extensively with Jackson. Others who played and recorded with the Decoding Society include Byard Lancaster
, Eric Person
, Robin Eubanks
, and James Carter
.
With Sonny Sharrock
, Peter Brötzmann
, and Bill Laswell
, Jackson was a member of the quartet Last Exit
. In 1987 he co-founded the groups Power Tools (with guitarist Bill Frisell
and bassist Melvin Gibbs) and SXL (with Laswell, Indian violinist L. Shankar
, Senegalese drummer Aiyb Dieng
, and Korean percussion group SamulNori); in 1988 he and Laswell teamed with Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata in the trio Mooka. He has also recorded with Charles Tyler (Jackson's first recording date), James Blood Ulmer (Jackson was an original member of Ulmer's band Music Revelation Ensemble), Billy Bang
, Albert Mangelsdorff
.
His most recent tours included performances in Europe with Wadada Leo Smith
and John Lindberg on one hand, and with Melvin Gibbs, Joseph Bowie
, Vernon Reid, and James Blood Ulmer on the other.
(dates are recording, not release)
with Mooko:
with Music Revelation Ensemble:
with Power Tools:
with SXL:
As sideman:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Jackson is notable for his unusual approach to his instrument, which draws as much inspiration from military and parade bands as from traditional jazz drumming.
He is the only person to have recorded and performed with the three prime shapers of free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
: pianist Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
and Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
.
In 1979, he founded his own group, the Decoding Society, playing what has been dubbed free funk
Free funk
Free funk is a term that Allmusic and writer Scott Yanow use to describe a combination of avant-garde jazz with funk music that developed in the 1970s. Leaders of the genre include Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time group, Ronald Shannon Jackson and his group Decoding Society, Jamaaladeen Tacuma...
: a blend of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
improvisation. Its recordings include Eye on You, Mandance, Street Priest, Barbeque Dog, Decode Yourself and When Colors Play. Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid
Vernon Reid is an English-born American guitarist, songwriter, composer, and bandleader. Best known as the founder and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Living Colour, Reid was named #66 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.Critic Steve Huey writes, "[Reid's]...
(Living Colour
Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, neo-psychedelia, hard rock, and heavy metal...
), and Melvin Gibbs
Melvin Gibbs
Melvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist, composer, and producer who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Gibbs has been called "the best bassist in the world" by Time Out New York magazine....
(Harriet Tubman (group), Rollins Band
Rollins Band
Rollins Band was an American rock band led by singer and songwriter Henry Rollins.They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and "Liar", which both earned heavy airplay on MTV in the early 1990s...
) both started their careers with Jackson. Both played and recorded extensively with Jackson. Others who played and recorded with the Decoding Society include Byard Lancaster
Byard Lancaster
Byard Lancaster is a jazz multi-instrumentalist whose primary instrument is the alto saxophone. He attended two colleges, one of them for music, before eventually deciding to pursue an education at the Berklee College of Music, then moving to New York...
, Eric Person
Eric Person
Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
, Robin Eubanks
Robin Eubanks
Robin Eubanks is an American jazz and jazz fusion slide trombonist, the brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks.-Biography:...
, and James Carter
James Carter
Jimmy Carter , the 39th President of the United States.Jimmy Carter also may refer to:- Public officials :* James G...
.
With Sonny Sharrock
Sonny Sharrock
Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock was an American jazz guitarist. He was once married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he sometimes recorded and performed....
, Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
, and Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, Jackson was a member of the quartet Last Exit
Last Exit (Free jazz band)
Last Exit was a free jazz supergroup composed of electric guitarist Sonny Sharrock, drummer/occasional vocalist Ronald Shannon Jackson, saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, and bass guitarist Bill Laswell. They were active from 1986 to the early 1990s, releasing primarily live albums recorded in Europe...
. In 1987 he co-founded the groups Power Tools (with guitarist Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
and bassist Melvin Gibbs) and SXL (with Laswell, Indian violinist L. Shankar
L. Shankar
Lakshminarayanan Shankar, also known as L. Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian-born American violinist, singer and composer.-Early life:...
, Senegalese drummer Aiyb Dieng
Aïyb Dieng
Aïyb Dieng is a Senegalese drummer and percussionist specializing in hand drums. He has recorded one solo album , and has worked with a wide range of musicians but is perhaps best known for his long-term association with prolific bassist/producer Bill Laswell.-Biography:He was born and raised in...
, and Korean percussion group SamulNori); in 1988 he and Laswell teamed with Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata in the trio Mooka. He has also recorded with Charles Tyler (Jackson's first recording date), James Blood Ulmer (Jackson was an original member of Ulmer's band Music Revelation Ensemble), Billy Bang
Billy Bang
Billy Bang was an American free jazz violinist and composer.-Biography:...
, Albert Mangelsdorff
Albert Mangelsdorff
Albert Mangelsdorff was one of the most accredited and innovative trombonists of modern jazz who became famous for his distinctive technique of playing multiphonics.-Biography:...
.
His most recent tours included performances in Europe with Wadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
and John Lindberg on one hand, and with Melvin Gibbs, Joseph Bowie
Joseph Bowie
Joseph Bowie is an American bandleader, trombonist, and founder of the seminal jazz fusion band, Defunkt. The group has been blending jazz with funk and punk music for more than three consecutive decades....
, Vernon Reid, and James Blood Ulmer on the other.
As leader
- Eye on You (About Time, 1980)
- Nasty (Moers MusicMoers MusicMoers Music is a German jazz record label based in the city of Moers....
, 1981) - Street Priest (Moers, 1981)
- Mandance (Antilles RecordsAntilles RecordsAntilles Records was an American record label that was a subsidiary of Island Records.Its jazz catalog is now managed by Verve Records.-Discography:*1001 Joanne Brackeen - Special Identity 1981*1002 Biréli Lagrène- Routes To Django 1980...
, 1982) - Barbeque Dog (Antilles, 1983)
- Montreux Jazz Festival (Knit Classics, 1983)
- Pulse (Celluloid, 1984)
- Decode Yourself (Island, 1985)
- Taboo (Venture/Virgin, 1981-83)
- Earned Dream (Knit Classics, 1984)
- Live at Greenwich House (Knit Classics, 1986)
- Live at the Caravan of Dreams (Caravan of Dreams, 1986) AKA Beast in the Spider Bush
- When Colors Play (Caravan of Dreams, 1986)
- Texas (Caravan of Dreams, 1987)
- Red Warrior (Axiom, 1990)
- Raven Roc (DIW, 1992)
- Live in Warsaw (Knit Classics, 1994)
- What Spirit Say (DIW, 1994)
- Shannon's House (Koch, 1996)
(dates are recording, not release)
As sideman
with Last Exit- Köln (ITM, 1986)
- Last Exit (Enemy, 1986)
- The Noise of Trouble (Enemy, 1986) with guests Akira Sakata and Herbie Hancock
- Cassette Recordings 87 (Celluloid, 1987)
- Iron Path (Virgin, 1988)
- Headfirst into the Flames: Live in Europe (Muworks, 1989)
with Mooko:
- Japan Concerts (Celluloid, 1988)
with Music Revelation Ensemble:
- No Wave (Moers, 1980)
- Music Revelation Ensemble (DIW, 1988)
with Power Tools:
- Strange Meeting (Antilles, 1987)
with SXL:
- Live in Japan (Terrapin/Sony Japan, 1987)
- Into the Outlands (Celluloid, 1987)
As sideman:
- Albert Ayler: At Slug's Saloon, vols. 1&2 (ESP, 1966)
- Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (Revenant, 1962-70)
- Ornette Coleman: Dancing in Your Head (A&M, 1973, 1975)
- Ornette Coleman: Body Meta (Artists House, 1975)
- Bill Laswell: Baseline (Elektra Musician, 1982)
- Cecil Taylor: The Cecil Taylor Unit (New World, 1978)
- Cecil Taylor: 3 Phasis (New World, 1978)
- Cecil Taylor: One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye (hat Hut, 1978)
- Charles Tyler: Charles Tyler Ensemble (ESP, 1966)
- James Blood Ulmer: Are You Glad to Be in America? (Rough Trade, 1980)
- James Blood Ulmer: America: Do You Remember the Love? (Blue Note, 1986)
- John Zorn: Spillane (Nonesuch, 1986-87)