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Ali Jackson

Award-winning musician, composer, arranger, educator, and percussionist Ali Jackson developed his talent at an early age. A virtuoso, Ali has contributed significant musical works as a composer and arranger and he holds the distinction of being the first percussionist to perform and create music across the entire spectrum of musical styles.

He began playing drums at the age of two and piano by the age of five. As a child growing up in Detroit, Ali found himself immersed in serious study alongside his father, the great jazz bassist Ali Jackson Sr., who gave him an intense introduction to music, taking him on gigs where he began playing professionally at eight years old.

Ali’s natural ability and passion for music bloomed and by the age of 11 his aptitude flourished as a result of a steady stream of lessons and mentoring from an all-star lineup of music legends, including Max Roach, Milt Hinton, Dr. Donald Byrd, Betty Carter, Aretha Franklin and James Mtume. During one lesson when he was 12, Ali met Wynton Marsalis and impressed the trumpet virtuoso and future collaborator with his maturity and his advanced knowledge of the piano and music theory — skills rare among drummers.

Ali graduated as a music major with high honors from Detroit’s prestigious Cass Tech High School, a program with a rich legacy of consistently producing the country’s top musicians.

As a student at the New School University for Contemporary Music in New York City, he was privileged to study with Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He attended college on a full academic scholarship, earning an undergraduate degree in music composition. In 1994 Ali was selected as the guest soloist for the Beacons of Jazz program honoring legendary jazz drummer Max Roach. The Thelonius Monk Institute and Jazz Aspen selected him to participate in the first annual Jazz Aspen for gifted and talented musicians. Ali was also the first recipient of the state of Michigan’s prestigious Artserv Emerging Artist award in 1998.

After moving to New York for college, Ali became highly sought after for his distinctive, powerful swing, which is marked by a comprehensive knowledge of different styles, genres and historical eras. Known for playing innovative, melodic drum solos utilizing all of the surfaces of the drum set, Ali’s playing is compact, tight and full of a simmering intensity that is unmistakable.

Upon graduation Ali spent several years touring and recording with a diverse group of musicians before accepting the role as Drum Chair of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2005. Ali was the driving heartbeat of the big band, which was founded by Wynton Marsalis to bring together the world’s top jazz musicians on every instrument to showcase the music of Duke Ellington and other great composers and arrangers. As an integral part of the rhythm section, Ali’s playing helped define the sound of the JLCO and Wynton Marsalis for more than a decade and is documented in hundreds of recordings and videos of concerts that were witnessed by millions around the globe.

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Album Review

Yes! Trio: Spring Sings

Read "Spring Sings" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


With over twenty albums as leaders between them and two previous trio recordings including the widely acclaimed Groove Du Jour (jazz&people, 2019) the Yes! Trio--drummer Ali Jackson, bassist Omer Avital, and pianist Aaron Goldberg--light it up bright on Spring Sings!. An old school trio session, Spring Sings! is a jumpy (in a non-anxiety ridden way), spiky (ditto) and punchy (not punch drunk) affair that gets the ball rolling from the start with Jackson's most Ahmad Jamal-like title track. ...

1
Album Review

Ali Jackson Jr.: Amalgamations

Read "Amalgamations" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Stretto collaboratore di Wynton Marsalis, il trentottenne Ali Jackson è l'attuale batterista della Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Nato a Detroit, laureato in composizione alla New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, è stato allievo di Elvin Jones, Max Roach e ha operato in vari contesti assieme a Joshua Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Benson, James Carter, Marcus Roberts, Diana Krall e altri. Giunto al quinto disco da leader, ripercorre le tappe della sua formazione musicale, attorniato da nuovi e ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Ali Jackson Jr.

Read "Take Five With Ali Jackson Jr." reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Ali Jackson Jr.: Ali Jackson Jr. is best known for his association with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. You can find Ali performing with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, his Ali Jackson Quartet, or the phenom ensemble Horns in the Hood.Ali has performed and recorded extensively with some of the world's finest musicians including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Harry Connick Jr., KRS 1, Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, and the New York ...

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1

Recording

Yes! Trio: with Ali Jackson, Aaron Goldberg and Omer Avital release 'Spring Sings'

Yes! Trio: with Ali Jackson, Aaron Goldberg and Omer Avital release 'Spring Sings'

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Four years after the success of Groove du Jour, named best album of the year in 2019 by the French Academie du Jazz, Yes! Trio is finally back! Strengthened by their differences, these musicians, who never seemed predisposed to meet—a drummer, scion of the great African-American jazz family; a hippie bassist with Yemenite and Moroccan roots; a bon ton Bostonian with a Harvard degree pianist—united by thirty years of love of swing continue to embrace jazz with the same happiness, ...

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Interview

Bops, Hums and Pings, Turned into Jazz

Bops, Hums and Pings, Turned into Jazz

Source: Michael Ricci

The jazz drummer Ali Jackson generates a subtle but irresistible force when he plays, making even the smallest gestures advance his agenda of locomotion. Countless times during a crowded late set on Tuesday, in his first of two nights at Jazz Standard, he caught the ear with seemingly errant details — the ping of a stick against the bell of his ride cymbal, or the tight, airless hum of a press roll on his snare — that slyly pulled a ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spring Sings

Jazz&People
2024

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Groove du jour

Jazz&People
2019

buy

Amalgamations

Sunnyside Records
2014

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Videos

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