Kenneth Jackson spends his days as a musician and a teaching artist. His passion comes from a desire to tech children real music in hopes to continue its legacy.
Like the start of so many great talents, Kenneth started at a young age when he was mesmerized by the sounds of the great Aretha Franklin as his family listened to her in a Detroit church one day. Kenneth would eventually hear the sounds of a marching band where he would first see the trumpets leading the band. “It was like I got struck by lightning and said, ‘I want to play the trumpet.’” Kenneth regards music as one of the great forms of communication. In the great era of music he listened to while growing up, he became interested in music education as well as the motivation to pursue like as a musician. “I felt I should be one of the ones to continue that process.”
His formal training began in his school years when his band director taught both Kenneth and his brother how to play the trumpet. Kenneth evolved into the teacher and performer he is today based on the idea that “a lot of people have talent, but don’t really know anything about the theory,” stating that theory opens many doors. For Kenneth, these doors included his experiences playing on stage with Ray Charles and sight-reading the music.
Musical Motivation
“When you give love, you get love. I have love in my music and they can feel my passion.”
We asked the question ‘What drives you to do what you do?’ Kenneth listed feedback as his first reason. “When you give love, you get love. I have love in my music and they can feel my passion. When I see that sparkle in the eye, the same sparkle never leaves. The end result is what continues to motivate me,” He says. “when I go into a school and they reconstruct my music and the children play for me, I know I am doing something right.”
The Memphis Effect
Kenneth started professionally playing at 14 years old in night clubs, gathering his inspiration from Memphis musicians. “A great band is in every corner, and I wanted to be a performer.” Kenneth recalled his first recording at Stax when he was 19. His song titled “All day All night” was recorded in the same studio as other great musicians known all over the world.
What does Bring Your Soul mean to you, Mr. Jackson?
“What speaks to your heart. I tell my students when I am doing lectures that the music that speaks to my soul is the blues.” Mr. Jackson went on to explain that music can be intellectual, but it is different from soulful. That soulful music is music that evokes emotion through how the musician is playing. “I have seen people play one note and bring the house down and touch the heart. My journey goes to the heart. Bring your soul what you feel is your best and the people will be able to feel what you’re doing if it comes from your soul.”
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