Vasti Jackson
Vasti, Proud and Strong
VASTI JACKSON A soulful world renown guitar player and vocalist, whose presence
captures an audience the moment he takes the stage, he commands the house while
deftly leading his band. Grammy-nominee Vasti (pronounced Vast-Eye) Jackson is
a consummate performer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and
producer. From his early beginnings playing in juke joints in McComb,
Mississippi, to his most recent release, "Live In Nashville" is a no holds
barred, walking the razors edge, funky blues celebration that puts you slap
dab in the middle of the juke joint. Recorded at Bourbon Street Blues and
Boogie Bar. Vasti and his band move non-stop from Blues to Soul to Funk to
Jazz. He made each person feel as if he were performing for that one person
and that one person only. Vasti's talent has been enlarged by an amazing array
of musical experiences over 30 years of his vibrant career. Jackson's latest
studio release "No Borders to the Blues", is a good sample of
Vasti´s limitless energy and magnetism. It spotlights his talents as singer
and musician, and his utterly thrilling guitar mastery. This CD also features
guest music stars who blend in a perfectly finished production of his own:
piano great
Henry Butler,
folk funk master
Bobby Rush
(on harmonica), and New Orleans bass legend guitarist George Porter, Jr. Rooted
in the Blues, Vasti Jackson recorded on
B.B. King's
Grammy award winning Blues Summit in 1994. In the 1980s and early 1990s Vasti
was musical director, and guitarist
ZZ Hill,
Johnnie Taylor,
and blues 'n' boogie queen
Katie Webster,
and has opened for the blues great on many occasions. He also worked with
gospel greats - including the Williams Brothers, the Jackson Southernaires,
and Daryl Coley; with soul and blues artists
Bobby "Blue" Bland,
Little Milton,
Percy Sledge and
Sam Myers;
and with jazz artists Harry Connick, Jr., Wynton Marsalis, and Cassandra
Wilson, just as well. Vasti has also played guitar on Malaco Records for
Latimore,
Denise LaSalle,
Bobby Rush,
and Johnnie Taylor.
An accomplished composer, Vasti Jackson composed two songs for Stop Breakin'
Down, a film on the life of Mississippi blues icon
Robert Johnson.
He penned "Casino in the Cottonfield" for the Robert Mugge music
documentary, Last of the Mississippi Jukes, and wrote on the spot and
performed his "Train Rolling Blues", in the PBS docu-drama series
The Blues, executive produced by Martin Scorsese. He also wrote and performed
"America, Proud and Strong" with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
and a 1,000-voice choir, for the 2003 Mississippi ETV presentation, Mississippi,
The Birthplace of America's Music. Festivals and international tours have taken
him to Japan, Germany, France, Greece, South Africa, Holland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, Norway, Finland, England, Uruguay, Brazil and Portugal.
Vasti Jackson has been featured in Guitar Player Magazine, Living Blues,
Nothing But the Blues, Juke Blues (England), Blues Revue, and many other
publications. He has performed on Dan Akroyd's House of Blues Radio Hour,
the Starz Encore Network, WGN-TV in Chicago, and PBS. He has performed, written,
produced, and recorded music for HBO, VH1, Mississippi Educational Television,
the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), and radio and television programs in
Australia, Uruguay, Finland, and Canada. Vasti co-produced
Bobby Rush's
Hoochie Man, earning a Contemporary Blues Record of the Year Grammy
Award nomination in 2002. Vasti Jackson is professionalism at its best. He is
a combination of talent, broad experience and versatility. His soulful and
energetic performance will take your audience on a journey they will never forget.
(quoted from Vasti Jackson's page at myspace.com)
Visit Vasti Jackson's official website.
Visit Vasti Jackson's page at myspace.com.
Visit also these related Sites:
Various Articles on Vasti Jackson
Article by Marc Stone.
Article by Kimberly Bingham.
Article by Herman Snell.
Article by Dr. Bev Smallwood and Vasti Jackson.
Aticle and photo at npr.org
Reviews and Critiques of Vasti Jackson Live Performances and Recordings
Live review at guitarvibe.com.
Vasti Jackson Photos
Seven Vasti Jackson photos by Kurt Swanson.
71 Vasti Jackson photos at bluesimages.smugmug.com.
Vasti Jackson photo by Randy Douglas.
Four Vasti Jackson photos by Tim Richards.
Vasti Jackson Videos
VASTI JACKSON, HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN. Runtime 05:02.
Drop it like its hot!- Vasti Jackson. Runtime 05:51.
VASTI JACKSON, CROSSROADS. Runtime 03:45.
VASTI JACKSON, Mississippi Boogie Man. Runtime 03:26.
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