D.D. Jackson

I am a two-time Emmy Award-winning composer, producer, and Juno Award-winning jazz pianist and educator. As a composer, I specialize in writing, arranging, and producing memorable, custom-made music for t.v., film & other media. I consider myself an "artistic problem solver": I strive to get to the essential conceptual truth of what the client is looking for - and to express it in a creative and supportive way. [READ MORE] or [BIO]

Personnel:

D.D. Jackson - piano/Hammond B3 organ
James Carter - soprano and tenor saxophones (tracks 4,5, 9, 10)
Christian Howes - acoustic and electric violins, guitar
Richard Bona - electric bass, vocal on "Simple Song"
Jack Dejohnette - drums
Mino Cinelu - percussion (tracks 1,2,3,7,8)

Written, arranged and produced by D.D. Jackson.

D.D. Jackson played a Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand for this recording.

My Liner Notes/Thank You's

Anthem is a project I have been working toward my whole musical life, and is Part II of a pair of albums that began with my first RCA Victor release ...so far. While my prior recording focused on my playing and composing as solo pianist and dealt with the musical influences in my life up to that point, Anthem looks to the future, taking certain ideas I've always wanted to explore with my group conception and presenting them in a context featuring musicians uniquely capable of bridging the gap between melody, groove and improvisational adventure. In doing so, my goal is for this album to truly be my own "anthem" for a new, more inclusive form of personal expression.

I feel very privileged to have worked with the remarkable assemblage of musicians who gathered together for this date. I thank Jack, James, Mino, Christian and Richard for their artistry, their tremendous energy and enthusiasm, and for imbuing my music with such positive "life-force." Thanks also to James Farber and Greg Calbi; Steve Gates, Steve Backer, Joshua Sherman, David Neidhart, Steve Smith, Mark Tavern and everyone else at RCA Victor; my manager Cynthia Herbst; David Gonzalez for his words; my friends in NY, Columbus, Minneapolis, Canada and elsewhere for their helpful feedback about this music; my father for his constant loving support; and, as always, my late mother and brother Chris for their life inspiration. This album is dedicated to my brothers, Shaw and Charley.

I hope you enjoy Anthem.

- D.D. Jackson

David Gonzalez's poem:

Gathering Waters
Let there be a song of praise for the gathering waters at this place.
Let there be a song of praise for the nameless tributaries, and a song for the seven seas.
Let there be a song of praise for the currents that span the distant stream-beds of the earth,
and which deposit their treasures at our feet.
Let there be a song of praise for bracing Canadian springs, 
for the Yangtze and the Mississippi Delta,
for Hudson Bay and Harlem River.
Let there be a song of praise for the convergence of salt and sweet, each flowing into each other,
white-capped and tumultuous,
making something new in the brackish womb of their joining.
Let there be a song of praise for the stirring of turbulent histories.
Let there be a song of praise for this brimming, liquid now-moment.
Let there be a joyous song,
an anthem,
for this happy confluence of longing.

- David Gonzalez