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Star Sax Player Comes Home To Participate In Uptown Music Festival
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
For saxophonist B. K. Jackson, the upcoming Up- town Music Festival isn’t just another gig. It’s a homeco- ming.
Jackson’s current ad- dress is Atlanta and he’s a member of Trombone Shorty’s touring band, Or- leans Avenue. But the musi- cian’s roots are here in Tampa, so when presented the opportunity to be added to the festival bill, Jackson jumped.
“I’m just happy to be part of the first year,” he said. “I’m excited to come home and play with my friends.”
While Atlanta is his pro- fessional base, fans of the Blake High School alum who wish to see more of him in the Tampa Bay area are in luck:
“I’ll be home a lot be- tween now and the end of the year,” he said.
The UACDC concert (June 15th) kicks off a hand- ful of appearances Jackson will make in the area, includ- ing a birthday bash/new album listening party this summer and opening for R&B singer, Howard Hewett in September.
Jackson said he’s still working out the details for the listening party, but “Pa- radise,” the first single from his newest album – Life of the Party – is available now on iTunes, Google Play, and Tidal.
There’s a 10-year gap be- tween this latest CD and Jackson’s first effort, On The Move. But whereas his debut was his introduction as an artist, this latest offer- ing is a presentation of the kind of artist Jackson’s be- come in the last decade.
“It’s definitely about grabbing all of my influences and then figuring out who I am as an artist,” he said. “I’m excited because it took me a while to decide who I wanted to be as an artist.”
Every artist experiences a phase of exploration and
luckily for Jackson, he got the chance to discover him- self while under the tutelage of one of the world’s greatest musicians: Prince Nelson Rogers.
Jackson said his joining The Purple One’s backing band came on a whim while he was preparing to pack up his apartment after finishing up a semester at Florida A&M University.
A friend called with the opportunity of a lifetime: Prince was putting together a new touring band and he needed a standout horn sec- tion. Would Jackson be in- terested?
“I got a flight at 10 p. m. that night,” he said. “I had literally nothing packed be- cause I wasn’t expecting to go to Paisley Park that night.”
Jackson left the packing to his Alpha Phi Alpha fra- ternity brothers and made his way to Minneapolis. But the hype and anxiousness of getting there was dimmed quickly by a long wait to see Prince and to get to work.
After a few hours, Jack- son said he stepped out of the studio to find the rest- room and that’s when he first encountered Prince.
“I see this light-skinned guy, but he had an Afro and very loose clothing,” he said. “I was going to ask him where the bathroom was, but I realized ‘oh, that’s Prince!’.”
That night was the start of Jackson’s three-year stint with Prince, his first professional job. In that time, Jackson said he picked up many lessons about being a working musi- cian.
Prince was very particu- lar about the sound he wanted, but left room for in- terpretation, Jackson said.
“He’d say ‘I want the horns to go big’,” he said. “It was up to us to determine what big is.”
From Prince, Jackson said he learned much about the business of music and how to arrange shows.
STAR SAXOPHONIST, B. K. JACKSON
“I learned how to put to- gether a show, how to read a crowd,” he said. “I watched the way he carried himself business wise. Why he did
certain things. The way he dressed.”
The most important les- son, however, was how to be true to yourself, Jackson said.
“He told me, ‘I don’t lis- ten to the radio, I just make the music I want to hear,’” he said.
Jackson said the day of Prince’s passing remains a vivid memory.
“The day he passed, I got a text message,” he said. “I knew immediately that something happened. I just felt it.”
At the time Jackson got the news, he was with Adrian Crutchfield and another musician friend.
“Prince called us the three gentlemen,” he said. “It was very ironic that (Prince’s death) would hap-
pen with my two closest friends with me.”
If You Go
The Uptown Music Festi- val will take place from 4 to 10 p. m., June 15th, at the University Area Park, 14013 N. 22nd St., in Tampa. The lineup features nationally known jazz artists B. K. Jackson, Adrian Crutch- field, Jackiem Joyner, Bryan Thompson, and Tim George.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the programs and services of University Area CDC. Reserved seating is $40 in advance and $50 day of show; general admis- sion tickets are $15 in ad- vance and $20 day of show. Purchase tickets at: http://www.uacdc.org/up- townmusicfest.
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