Michael Gregory Jackson

Michael Gregory Jackson is an unfettered composer, innovator, guitarist, singer, improviser, sound explorer, educator and poet. Upon his arrival in NYC, and since his 20’s, he is widely considered one of the most innovative guitarists to emerge from New York’s avant-garde loft scene of the 70s. Michael stands as a pioneer of a new movement, one in which genres and sounds were suddenly mixed in new and inventive ways. Rolling Stone magazine called him “the most original jazz guitarist to emerge since the sixties.” Michael embodies the nature of a true and natural artist, perpetually cultivating new ideas and directions.

Jackson’s brilliant technique on electric and acoustic, flavored with quicksilver runs, volume pedal swells and sudden shifts from crystalline melodic to fuzzy dissonance, has been name-checked as a critical influence on such 6-string greats as Bill Frisell, Vernon Reid, Brandon Ross, Elliot Sharpe and others.

Michael has worked and/or recorded with luminaries across the musical spectrum including Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Wadada Leo Smith, Nile Rodgers, Anthony Braxton, Will Calhoun, Nels Cline, Nona Hendryx, Jack Dejohnette, Steve Winwood, David Murray, Walter Becker, Buster Williams, Carlos Santana, Marcus Miller, Henry Threadgill, Omar Hakim, Vernon Reid, and Patti LaBelle, to name a few.

His recent credits as a producer include Pulitzer Prize nominee Wadada Leo Smith, for whom he produced two critically acclaimed discs. Michael taught at California Institute for the Arts, New England Conservatory of Music, Copenhagen Conservatory of Music, DK, Hampshire College, and is a guiding artist at The Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, N.Y.

"Change" A Suite for Nelson Mandela 7.3.2020
Michael Gregory Jackson NEW Release
"Jackson’s latest release is something splendid from his archives, a 1994 live recording by a nine-piece unit of an emotional original work, “Change: A Suite for Nelson Mandela.” It’s fuses knotty ensemble melodies and fiery soloing, with a sung poetry that celebrates the end of Apartheid and Mandela’s triumphant journey from political prisoner to President of South Africa." - Sal Cataldi​
Full Review: https://nysmusic.com/2020/07/12/michael-gregory-jackson-releases-change-a-sprawling-live-jazz-suite-for-nelson-mandela