Vasti Jackson

Life and career Jackson was born in McComb, Mississippi west of Hattiesburg and he attended McComb High School. When he was a small boy he lived one block away from the train tracks. Trains fascinated Jackson and when old enough he hopped the train to travel short distances. At the age of twelve the railroad police caught onto his juvenile hobo act although he retains a lifetime love of the railroad. Through his family he came to hear blues music igniting his second love. Jackson studied music at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. He played in the juke joints around McComb, and his musical learning continued to the extent that by the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, he was employed as a session musician by both Malaco Records and Alligator Records. By 1993, Jackson was serving as the musical director on the television program, Blues Goin' On. In 1994, Jackson played on B.B. King's Grammy Award winning album, Blues Summit. He turned his hand to record production in 2000, with co-production credits on the Bobby Rush album, Hoochie Man, which was nominated for a Grammy Award the next year. In 2002, Jackson provided backing vocals on "Only a Dream in Rio" on Cassandra Wilson's album, Belly of the Sun. The following year, Jackson was one of the performers in Warming by the Devil's Fire, one of the film documentaries in the series, The Blues, produced by Martin Scorsese. Jackson was the music producer for the film's soundtrack. In 2005, Jackson co-wrote and produced the track "Hello", on Morris Mills's album, Love & Coffee. While Jackson's own composition, "Casino in the Cotton Field", appeared in the Lifetime Television Network film, Infidelity (2006). He spent time touring his own work which saw him appear in locations across the globe. In June 2012, he performed at the Chicago Blues Festival. The same year he was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and in 2013, Jackson performed at Super Bowl XLVII. Jackson had said in March 2015, "I like to talk about the triumph of the blues. Looking at struggle and rising above it. It’s an art form derived from the necessities of life, having to navigate oppression." He was a guest performer on the title track of Bobby Rush's 2016 album, Porcupine Meat. It earned Rush a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album, putting Jackson in competition with Rush for the award.

Discography

Solo albums Year Title Record label 1996 Vas-tie Jackson Vas-Kat Records 2003 No Borders to the Blues VJM Records 2007 Bourbon Street Blues: Live in Nashville CD Baby 2010 Stimulus Man VJM Records 2013 New Orleans Rhythm Soul Blues CD Baby 2016 The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers CD Baby