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Paul Jackson

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Paul Jackson was born in 1947 in Oakland, California, and became an American jazz bassist and composer. As a child he played piano and bassoon, and he began on the bass at the age of nine. At fourteen he was already playing with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, and afterwards he studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He became known as a founding member of the Headhunters, the group Herbie Hancock formed in 1973, with Bennie Maupin on saxophone and clarinet, Harvey Mason on drums and Bill Summers on percussion.

Music and breakthrough

Their first album, Head Hunters from 1973, became the best-selling jazz album to that date and the first to sell a million copies. It reached number thirteen on the American Billboard 200. Jackson co-wrote the opening track Chameleon, which became a jazz standard. After that he played on Hancock's albums Thrust (1974), Man-Child (1975), Flood (1975) and Secrets (1976).

Influence

Later Jackson moved to Japan, where he started the voluntary concert series Jazz for Kids, intended to familiarise pupils with African American history. He died in 2021. His electric bass is part of the sound of Hancock's Headhunters.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Chameleon by Herbie Hancock and notice the bass groove. Try to hear how a repeating pattern is the foundation for the solos above it.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists