Jan. 3, 2010

Paul Jackson, Jr. – Layin’ It Back, Kickin’ It Out

It’s quite the norm nowadays to turn on a TV music special or series and see renowned guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr. offering his sterling riffs and chords to some other artist or contestant.  Considering his remarkable talent and the fact that he has performed on more than 1,000 records, it is truly heartening to see this man stand in the shadows humbly and serve up some of the sharpest guitar work ever to complement—and compliment—artists of every walk of music—and that’s without talking about his jamming, funky solo work.  You know what I think? He’d probably rather not boast about it, either. That’s just the quiet giant he appears to be. Why shout to the heavens about how great thou art when you’ve demonstrated it time and again and have the fans to prove it?
 
Jackson was born in Los Angeles, where he continues to live today. You can spot him or hear that telling guitar in the American Idol band, where he’s played since its inception, and will once again take his place on that stage in the upcoming season. He has also performed in the bands for the TV shows, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, America’s Got Talent, and Grease: You’re the One That I Want.

Jackson debuted as a solo artist in 1988 with the album I Came To Play. His sixth CD, Still Small Voice, included the smooth jazz singles “Walkin” and “It’s a Shame.” His latest CD, Lay It Back, featured the hit single “Easy Like Sunday Morning,” which has been a force on the Smooth Jazz Top 20 chart for quite some time.

Though Jackson never had the opportunity to meet or work with Wes Montgomery, one of his chief guitar influences, he has forged professional relationships with all the others who touched his formative years, including Earl Klugh, George Benson, Ray Parker Jr., Al McKay, and Lee Ritenour. Since breaking into the Los Angeles studio scene at age 16, he has contributed his multi-faceted guitar work to the biggest artists of pop, R&B, jazz, and rock music, including Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson,  Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Randy Crawford, Ramsey Lewis, and countless others. 

Jackson points to his trip with Whitney Houston to South Africa in 1995 as his most spiritual, powerful, and soul-energizing project to date. Playing his own signature Gibson model Paul Jackson Jr. ES347, in recent years, he also accompanied the Backstreet Boys (on MTV’s Total Request Live) and Destiny’s Child.  Bridging the musical and spiritual aspects of his life, he has taught at worship conferences in Korea, Italy, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Jackson says that one of the most recent highlights for him was his onstage appearance in a tribute to Wes Montgomery featuring guitar notables Jimmy Bruno, Larry Carlton, Earl Klugh, Chuck Loeb, Russell Malone, Pat Martino, and himself. All played together, and each provided solo performances of Wes Montgomery selections.

Jackson’s professional career actually began in acting at age 6 with his first gig, “Cowboy in Africa,” starring Chuck Connors, Cicely Tyson, and others. He then appeared in a number of television shows (Good Times, Julia, Mayberry RFD, and others), commercials, and several movies including "The Sting,” “Cinderella Liberty,” “Marcus Nelson Murders” (Kojak pilot) "Willy Dynamite," and as one of the stars of the NBC Mystery Series “Tenafly” with James Mc Keachin and Lillian Lehman.
 
Sounds like enough to make a man sufficiently satisfied with himself, right?  Well, hold on. Jackson’s real interest was music. He received his first guitar at nine, started playing seriously at 12, and indicated to his parents that he would rather focus on his music instead of acting. He made an early switch from piano to guitar (much to the chagrin of his piano teacher).

In addition to acting, Jackson performed with a family band which included his siblings, his mother, and good friend Cornelius Mims (now a notable in the professional music arena).  At age 14, Jackson’s musical instrument preference was the Gibson guitar (oh, what a guitar that has always been!), given to him by his parents.   He would later major in music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. 

Jackson’s studio recording career has resulted in him being dubbed as “the most recorded and requested guitarist in the world". The word is that “Paul can play any style of music, and, no matter what song you have, Paul can make it sweeter."

You want to talk about humility and dedication to his craft? Here’s what the artist has to say: “Success as a studio musician comes from knowing that your number one priority is making the artist happy and developing a reputation for giving those who hire you what they want.  I still practice and love all the late nights and early mornings in the studio, trying to get things just right on my own projects and those of the artists who hire me. I keep all that balanced with my faith journey, and every so often, will turn off the mix of be-bop and oldies I keep in the car and just drive in silence…listening once again for that still small voice. God will speak to you if you allow yourself to turn down the volume.” 

Whether he’s in that diminished-volume state or tearing it up onstage and in the studio, the world hears Paul Jackson, Jr.’s every soul-deep note in all its brilliance oh-so-clearly, for here is an artist who introduces himself so well and so completely long before the music starts playing. -- Ronald Jackson