Ronald Shannon Jackson

Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas.

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.

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."

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."

He is also on disks 3 and 4 of Ayler's Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70).

Jackson said Ayler was "the first (leader) that really opened me up. He let me play the drums the way I did in Fort Worth when I wasn't playing for other people."

By 1966, Jackson received a full music scholarship to New York University through trumpeter Kenny Dorham.

Once in New York, Jackson performed with many jazz musicians, including Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Stanley Turrentine, and others.

Whenever he would ask Charles Mingus to consider him for his group, Mingus used to push him "rudely out of his way".

After Jackson sat in with pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, he heard loud clapping behind him.

It was Mingus, who asked him to play with his band.

In 1966 Jackson recorded drums for saxophonist Charles Tyler's release, Charles Tyler Ensemble.

Between 1966 and 1967, he played with saxophonist Albert Ayler and is featured on At Slug's Saloon, Vol. 1 & 2.

John Coltrane's death in July 1967 devastated Jackson.

He spent the next few years addicted to heroin.

He said, "I couldn't play drums then, spiritually.... I just didn't feel right."

From 1970–74, he did not perform, but continued to practice.

In 1974, pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs introduced Jackson to Nichiren Buddhism and chanting.

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.

Jackson was born in Fort Worth, Texas.

As a child, he was immersed in music.

His father monopolized the local jukebox business and established the only African American-owned record store in the Fort Worth area.

His mother played piano and organ at their local church.

Between the ages of five and nine he took piano lessons.

In the third grade, he studied music with John Carter.

Jackson graduated from I.M. Terrell High School, where he played with the marching band and learned about symphonic percussion.

During lunch breaks, students would conduct jam sessions in the band room.

Around the same time, Jackson's mother bought him his first drum set to encourage him to graduate from high school.

By the age of 15, he was playing professionally.

His first paid gig was with tenor saxophonist James Clay, who went on to join Ray Charles as a sideman.

Jackson recalled that "we were playing four nights a week, with two gigs each on Saturday and Sunday, anything from Ray Charles to bebop. People were dancing, and when it was time to listen, they'd listen. But I was brainwashed into thinking you couldn't make a living playing music."

After graduation, Jackson attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

He chose Lincoln because of its proximity to St. Louis and accessibility to great musicians touring the Midwest.

His roommate was pianist John Hicks.

As undergraduates, they "spent as much time performing together as studying."

The Lincoln University band included Jackson, Hicks, trumpeter Lester Bowie, and Julius Hemphill on saxophone.

Jackson then transferred to Texas Southern University, and from there went to Prairie View A & M.

He decided to study history and sociology at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.

Jackson intended not to play music at all, but after exposure to various artists and styles, he concluded that "the beat is in your body" and "the music you play comes from your life."