Vasti
Jackson
(US) Vasti Jackson frå Mississippi er ein av dei mest talentfulle og
kreative bluesmenn av den unge generasjon.Han er ein stor gitarist med djup kjennskap til bluesrøtene
og han lagar eit flott sceneshow. Han
spelar blues, han syng blues, han skriv og produserer blues, ja –
han føler blues.
Ein kommentator på YouTube skriv: - Eg opplevde han på ein scene i Belgia
sist sommar. Du
verda for ein artist!For
eit show!Den karen
"tok livet av" alle dei andre bluesfyrane som spelte på
festivalen den dagen. Spesielt
då han spelte ”Hey Joe”.
Les
meir på engelsk Guitarist, songwriter and producer Vasti
Jackson may well be the busiest musician in Mississippi. In the last
several years, the Hattiesburg resident has appeared in several
feature films, a documentary and a TV show, co-produced a
Grammy-nominated album, and worked as a session man and road
musician for numerous artists. Jackson also performs with his own
band and as a solo acoustic act, and recently stepped up front with
a new CD, “No Border to the Blues,” that might be seen as a
distillation of all the work he’s accomplished to date. "I
love collaborating, but this CD is me putting the music out there
from my own personal inspiration," Jackson explains. "There’s
music that’s more traditional blues, acoustic, electrified and
more rocking, but at the core of it is a compelling Mississippi
attitude."
”Alongside straight-ahead blues workouts are “Up In Here,” a survey
of Mississippi blues venues that features hip-hop beats; “Sweet
Magnolia,” a ballad that pays tribute Jackson’’s home state;
and several songs that have a New Orleans feel. The album also
contains several Jackson compositions that first appeared in other
media. Jackson wrote “Casino in the Cottonfield” for “Last of
The Mississippi Jukes,” a 2003 documentary about Jackson’s
Subway Lounge, and also performed the song in the film “Infidelity,”
which appeared on the Lifetime network, starring Kim Delaney.
Jackson first
performed his composition “Train Rolling” in the film “Warming
By the Devil’s Fire,” part of Martin Scorcese’ PBS Blues
series, and “America, Proud and Strong” is a patriotic anthem
that Jackson wrote for the Mississippi ETV show “Mississippi: The
Birthplace of America’s Music.” Guests on the CD include Bobby
Rush, who plays harmonica on “The Fix-it Man,” bassist George
Porter, Jr. of Meters fame. Jackson’s wife, Kathi, provides backup
vocals, and his 17-year-old son Keisean, a pianist, is showcased on
“Katie Webster’s Hands,” a tribute to the Louisiana pianist
whose band Jackson led in the 1980s and early ‘90s. Jackson, whose
grandfather and grandmother both played acoustic guitar, grew up in
McComb, and played his first professional gig at 15 with local blues
heavyweight Big Moody. In the late ‘70s he moved to Jackson, where
he studied music at Jackson State under instructors Kermit Holly,
Jr., and William W. “Prof” Davis. More informally, he credits
local guitarists Jesse Robinson and Skeets McWilliams for
instructing him about, respectively, blues and jazz.Once in town,
Jackson began working with gospel groups including the Williams
Brothers and the Jackson Southernaires, soul and blues artists
Geater Davis, Tommy Tate, and Sam Myers, and his own funk and
R&B group, Wisdom.
