Ronald Shannon Jackson

Ronald Shannon Jackson
Ronald Shannon Jackson
	Jackson at the 2011 Moers Festival
Background information
Born	January 12, 1940; Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 19, 2013 (aged 73); Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Avant-garde jazz; free jazz; free funk; jazz fusion;
Occupation(s)	Percussionist
Years active	1958–2013
Labels	Antilles, DIW, Moers
Website	ronaldshannonjackson.bandcamp.com

Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas.^[1] 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.^[2]

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."^[3] 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."^[4]

In 1979, he founded his own group, the Decoding Society,^[1] playing what has been dubbed free funk: a blend of funk rhythm and free jazz improvisation.

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Jackson and Sirone are cited as having recorded with these artists in discographies of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler.
^ Zabor, Rafi; David Breskin (June 1981). "Ronald Shannon Jackson: The Future of Jazz Drumming". Musician, Player and Listener: 64.
^ Giddins, Gary (2004): Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century. Oxford; Oxford University Press, p. 14; ISBN 0195156072

[allmusic-1] Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Jackson and Sirone are cited as having recorded with these artists in discographies of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler.

[3] Zabor, Rafi; David Breskin (June 1981). "Ronald Shannon Jackson: The Future of Jazz Drumming". Musician, Player and Listener: 64.

[4] Giddins, Gary (2004): Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century. Oxford; Oxford University Press, p. 14; ISBN 0195156072

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