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Born in La Jolla, California, this composer, educator, and saxophonist acknowledges and respects music’s ability to move and transform energy. It is with passion and love that Daniel continues to be a living legend.

A graduate of San Diego High School (class of 1955), Jackson fined tuned his competency through private lessons with Mr. Dalby, from 1949 to 1954.  The lessons were provided by his mother, the late Mrs. Johnnie Jackson.  Mrs. Jackson, a native of Waco, Texas, had been widowed since 1946.  She was a single parent of three children.  She supported her family by doing domestic work.  Mrs. Jackson recognized and supported the value of music as a means of interpreting life experiences.  She instilled this value in her youngest son, Daniel.

A jazz musician whose career as a performer and composer of hauntingly beautiful African-American music spans fifty years, whose work with greats from Ray Charles to Art Farmer is a testament to his stature, whose tenacity in the face of hard times is legendary, and whose grace and passion inform every note he breathes to life through his horn. When Daniel Jackson creates music, it is soul music, at once profoundly spiritual and deeply physical.




 Daniel’s 1959 and 1960 Pacific and Riverside recordings with Lenny McBrowne (featuring Jackson’s original compositions) are considered classics of the genre and have recently been reissued by EMI. His performing credentials reads like a list of some of the greatest jazz artists of all time: he has worked in the bands of Jimmy Smith, Buddy Rich, Willie Bobo, Art Farmer and Ray Charles. Mr. Jackson has won numerous awards from the likes of the California Arts Council and City of San Diego: performed as a guest artist with the San Diego Symphony; and has taught music in high schools, colleges, and in his famous public workshops. We know Jackson best for his tenor playing, but he is also adept at flute and piccolo, a gifted and lyrical self-taught pianist, and talented arranger and composer.

 Daniel has released four independent CD’s under Daniel Jackson, "Life is but a dream,”-“LA Uprising, “Milky Way” and Out the Window” a joy for fans who have been waiting for years to appreciate his recordings, and a lucky break for music lovers everywhere.