I just returned to the U.S. from beautiful Denmark, of course they have problems there too, but they are ecologically mindful, and they prioritize the health, education and the well being of their citizens. Disappointing election results indeed...but as we know here in the U.S. the majority of people are oblivious, disengaged, they do not fight for things that are good for them and against the things that are not. MGJ

©2014 Michael Gregory Jackson
every kind word that is spoken,
every time a door is opened,
clearly there are barriers broken down,
as the spring will follow winter,
as the sparks glow, burn within you,
growing...love will fill you up inside.

“Spirit-Signal-Strata”! Twas a joyful, magical concert last night! 
MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON with Kenwood Dennard and Keith Witty at the fabulous Firehouse 12 in New Haven CT. The band was stellar! A big thank you to all that came out to hear us...you made the night very special. Thank you Carl Testa, Nick Lloyd and all of the good folks at Firehouse 12 for having me/us.

©9.11.14 MGJ 9/11/2001 I am sorry for those that lost their lives this day, The world stopped, then began to turn in a different way.

was a wonderful time last night/making music/many people listening/
thank you all/deep bass Tim/appreciation/grateful grace/getting there/ 
where music takes us...MGJ

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON with bassist Tim Webb

Parma Music Festival Thursday, 8.14.14 6PM to 7PM

Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, Portsmouth NH

Michael Gregory Jackson is an internationally acclaimed jazz, blues and rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer, poet, and producer who has worked with everyone from Nile Rodgers to Oliver Lake to Walter Becker and many more.

Bassist Tim Webb has been making music throughout New England for more than 20 years, having performed and/or recorded with Equal Time, Eddie Gale, Dick Griffin, Francis Dunnery, Tom Snow, and Charlie Jennison, among many others.

©7.25.14 Michael Gregory Jackson

my guitar is speaking, screaming, shouting, 
soaring, flashing speckles and splashes, 
brash tones, spraying shimmering splintered 
shards of sparkling pulsing crystals,
rotating blades, shredding upwards, 
motions and emotions stretching outwards,
ideas surge, accelerate then float freely 
through the multi-hued genre pool…
after trekking over the red hot coals,
the arrival at the end is always way cool,
then suddenly, it all becomes very clear,
when I realize I smile, yeah, it’s not the end,
it's just a turn, bend or inlet or some vast
intriguing place to land, soil to dig in,
discover, uncover, behold the treasure,
embrace the pleasure of diving deep,
here now, we will breathe and expand,
maybe forever, or for just a moment or two.

My heartfelt thanks to Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, and Niels Praestholm for being 2/3rds of my Clarity TRiO! It was a very special evening of music... born of friendship, respect empathy, diligence, love, passion and joy. Gargantuan thanks to Drika at The Dance Hall Kittery for your gracious hospitality and putting on a great event. So happy to meet all of the wonderful people that came out to hear us! Really looking forward to next time.

TONIGHT! It's On! See you there!
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/688669

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON’S CLARITY TriO

The Dance Hall, Kittery ★ Saturday May 31, 2014 8PM 

7 Walker St, Kittery, ME 03904 207-703-2083 

www.thedancehallkittery.org ★ www.michaelgregoryjackson.com

“MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON’S CLARITY TriO”

Comes to the Kittery Dance Hall, with Jackson on guitars, Rakalam Bob Moses on drums and Niels Præstholm on bass, each exceptional, internationally acclaimed musicians in their own right, for a night of moving and powerful music. The list of musicians that these three have worked with collectively reads like a who’s who from the spectrum of musical genres: Pat Metheny, Wadada Leo Smith, Oliver Lake, Herbie Hancock, Nile Rodgers, Jack Dejohnette, Larry Coryell, Keith Jarrett, Vernon Reid and Clark Terry, to name just a few. This will be a night to remember!

“Michael Gregory Jackson is one of the best cats I've ever heard.” -Pat Metheny

-Wire Magazine

"Michael Gregory Jackson is a huge influence on me, he blew my mind when I first heard him. He did things sonically with the guitar that I'd never heard.” -Bill Frisell -Down Beat

Michael Gregory Jackson composer and master guitarist has been called one of the most influential guitarists to emerge during New York’s avant-garde loft jazz scene. Michael has tread a winding musical path embracing everything from creative music, free jazz, blues, rock, improvised music, electronica soundscapes to harmonically rich and lyrically-deep vocal tunes, with the complex arrangements and subtleties that are a signature of his music. Michael’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, and can be heard deep in the musical DNA of six-string legends like Bill Frisell, Vernon Reid, Marc Ribot, Mary Halvorsen and more.

His most recent release is a product of his European travels and teachings. “Liberty, 

(2013 Embla Music) features Jackson and the Art Ensemble Syd, a creative ensemble 

from Denmark. Of it jazz author Bob Gluck wrote “The music is deeply touching and even heartbreaking. It defies category (yay!)...I cannot stop listening to this recording. It is that good...one part New Orleans early jazz, another part Ornette Coleman ‘harmolodic’ syncronicity, and a third part jam band party.”

Michael has played and/or recorded with Julius Hemphill, Mick Jagger, Oliver Lake, Nile Rodgers, Will Calhoun, Wadada Leo Smith, Nona Hendryx, Jack Dejohnette, Steve Winwood, David Murray, Walter Becker, Simon Spang- Hanssen, Buster Williams, Carlos Santana, Marcus Miller, Henry Threadgill, Ntozake Shange, Omar Hakim, Vernon Reid, Rakalam Bob Moses, Patti LaBelle, Anthony Braxton, Anton Fig, Ed Blackwell and many others.

Rakalam Bob Moses, drummer, composer, artist, poet, dancer, visionary, nature and mystic. His life has been a continuous quest for vision, spirit, compassion, growth, and mastery in a multiplicity of art forms.

"Leave it to Moses, a multi-directional shamanistic groovilator, to put all the pieces together. On “Time Stood Still”, another sprawling production of DeMille-ian scale, he seamlessly blends Monk, funk, tap, hip hop, bebop, big band, blues, Bahia, Tanzania, and the avant-garde into one organic package while paying homage to the spirits of Gil Evans, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Jaco Pastorius." -Bill Milkowski Down Beat

The list of artists he has played and/or recorded with as a leader and a sideman includes: Herbie Hancock, Tisziji Munoz, Pat Metheny, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jim Pepper, Larry Coryell, The Free Spirits, Dave Liebman, Gary Burton, Keith Jarrett, Steve Swallow, Michael Gibbs, Lyle Mays, Paul Bley and many others.

Niels Præstholm is a bassist, visionary composer, adventurous improviser, and a strong organizational force on the Danish jazz scene. With his groups Embla,

The Gyroscope String Trio and Art Ensemble Syd (South).

“Bassist and composer Niels Praestholm employs a genuine, delightfully off, sound, which he creates with his instrumentation. There is no trace of the reverence and solemnity often heard in the so-called Nordic sound. There is a vivid energy in the up tempo tracks that makes the music burn...the music has a down to earth timbre of life.” -Boris Rabinowitch, Politiken (Denmark)

Praestholm has played and/or recorded with Kenny Drew, John Tchicai, Horace Parlan, Michael Gregory Jackson, Rakalam Bob Moses, Lee Konitz, Django Bates, Dave Liebman, Doug Hammond, Teddy Wilson, Kresten Osgood, Richard Boone, Ed Thigpen, Clark Terry, Rudy Smith, Simon Spang-Hanssen, Pierre Dorge, The New Jungle Orchestra, Ernie Wilkins, Benny Waters, Sahib Shihab and many more. 

Oh yes, the joy of playing music, traveling onward and upward, outward and inward. It was on last night in Portsmouth, NH...Thank you Tim Webb, you played beautiful bass with me. Thank you to everyone that came out/shared tranquil, passionate and soaring energy with us. MGJ

Oh what a wonderful night of music... playing with Ra-Kalam Bob Moses/Ra-Kalam Records and Phil Grenadier Jazz... Thank you John, Beth and all of the other warm and friendly people at the Fiesta Jazz Fest at St Marys U in San Antonio for taking such excellent care of us during our stay.

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON In Concert
with Tim Webb bass.

Saturday, May 3, 2014 9:00PM
Portsmouth Book and Bar
40 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801

One of the most lyrical musicians working today...singularly personal and arresting and one of contemporary music's few genuine poets... Gregory's daring, darting vocal is so serene yet intense that one is hard-put naming a contemporary vocalist of similar grace and power." --Down Beat

• 
  

Exciting, powerful compositions and playing at MSR Recording Studio in NYC this past week, recording friend and composer Wadada Leo Smith’s newest project! Thank you Wadada, always a joy working with you (these past 40 years!). It was a pleasure and honor to meet and record with Bill Laswell, he is fully engaged and his bass playing is clear, powerful and deep. I also enjoyed playing with Henry Kaiser, he is turned on, animated and indefatigable. My dear old friends Pheeroan aKLaff and Brandon Ross played beautifully with soul and heart. Robert Musso was in the engineer chair, he is most knowledgeable, diligent and thoughtful. Last but not least I commend Petri Haussila, owner of the Finnish label TUM for his many fantastic jazz and creative music project releases. There were a plethora of expansive, joyful, electrifying and magical moments working with these first-rate musicians and technicians.

The extraordinary musician and composer Henry Threadgill stopped by MSR Recording Studio in NYC where I was recording this past week with composer Wadada Leo Smith. I thoroughly enjoy being in Henry’s presence; he is warm, fun, kind, humble and full of life. It was always special to play with Henry, stimulating, exhilarating and edifying. Seeing Henry reminded me that I have live recordings of him and I playing together. I am looking forward to digging them up and diving in.

Congratulations!
Twelve Years A Slave!
Best Picture Oscar!
Truth is Power!

Great afternoon, I enjoyed playing for the Baby Grand Jazz Series in Hartford CT with the inimitable Carl Testa. Twas wonderful to see Maurice D. Robertson, Diana Wimbish and Paul K. Mercado. Thank you Hartford Public Library, Pramod Pradhan and BGJS for putting on a quality event. Thanks to everyone, family, old friends and the many new friends that came out, wow... it was a joy.

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON Live!

MICHAEL GREGORY JACKSON-Guitar CARL TESTA-bass

Baby Grand Jazz Series 2014

Hartford Public Library (Downtown Library Atrium)

Sunday February 23, 2014

 3:00 PM. to 4:00 PM 

500 Main Street, Hartford CT  06103

(860-695-6295)

I love great music. I am very pleased to have witnessed some at Jordan Hall/New England Conservatory of Music (N.E.C.) in Boston, MA the other night.

My friend, spirit-ful drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses played with the great George Garzone on saxophone and the bracing and powerful John Lockwood on bass…subtle, deep and soulful music. 

Then came the inimitable Cecil McBee on bass, with Ra-Kalam on drums add saxophonist Mark Zaleski, whom I had the pleasure of playing with when I sat in with Russ Gershon’s Either Orchestra. Also, playing with this group was Christian Contreras, two exciting saxophonist to keep an eye on for sure…beautiful and stretchy music.

The imaginative pianist Ben Schwendener’s excellent trio featured Kenwood Dennard, ever multi-dimensional and impressive; honored to call a friend of mine, on drums. This trio was fully rounded out and sat on down by Mark Friedman on bass. Wow! What a pleasure, this music was right on point, most funky, clear and incendiary.

Pianist Tim Ray played the most breathtaking and mesmerizing version of “Tea for Two” that I have ever heard.

Pianist Hankus Netsky, always warm of spirit and gracious, played the heart-moving duet “Mayn Tayere” with violinist and vocalist Eden MacAdam-Somer.

There was a lot of other fantastic music on the bill, too much for me to write about right now.

If you are in Boston, I highly recommend attending concerts at N.E.C., a venerable institution that presents music of the highest quality. A magical memorable place for me…I ran into my old friend Billy Hart, yet another dream drummer. I was happy to be back at N.E.C. again, I taught there in the days of yore. - MGJ

Pete Seeger R.I.P., you will be missed.

I was very moved by Anthony Braxton’s acceptance speech at the NEA Jazz Master ceremony. Braxton was clear, compelling and compassionate in the telling of his story; a thoroughly fascinating and deep down journey through his inspirations, musical influences and the ups and downs, ins and outs, of a life spent marching to many different beats. Then, he went further, passionately expressing his desire to end the divisiveness in the music world and in society. Braxton made a passionate, informed and intelligent plea for acceptance, inclusion, and the necessity for exploration and expansion within all musical forms to keep music alive, growing and vital. It is of the utmost importance that the myriad of individual voices of musicians and composers are allowed to flourish, be welcomed in, to add to the continuum and history of American music and art in and around the world. Discovering, maintaining and nurturing one’s unique and personal identity and the sharing of creative spirit is the foundation and heart of all quality music irrespective of category. Thank you so very much for your music and soul. Congratulations Anthony!

"LIBERTY" Top 10 of 2013!
http://metroland.net/2013/12/24/best-recordings-2013-david-greenberger/