Brian Jackson

Brian Robert Jackson (born October 11, 1952) is an American keyboardist, flautist, singer, composer, and producer known for his collaborations with Gil Scott-Heron in the 1970s. The sound of Jackson's Rhodes electric piano and flute accompaniments featured prominently in many of their compositions, most notably on "The Bottle" and "Your Daddy Loves You" from their first official collaboration Winter in America. Jackson met Gil Scott-Heron while the two were attending Lincoln University (Pennsylvania).[1] They began a decade-long writing, producing, and recording partnership. Jackson composed most of the music that he and Scott-Heron together performed and recorded. In 1971, the two released their first album together, Pieces of a Man,[2] with Ron Carter on bass. Other notable albums include Free Will (1972) and Winter in America (1974), which was the first to have Jackson receive co-billing, and which was later described by Barney Hoskyns in UNCUT as "a masterwork of ghetto melancholia and stark political gravitas".[3] His biggest hit was with Scott-Heron, 1974's "The Bottle". By 1979, they had recorded ten albums, with other unreleased material surfacing on subsequent Scott-Heron releases following their 1980 split. Jackson continued to be active in the 1980s and 1990s, working with Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Will Downing and Gwen Guthrie.[1] Jackson's first solo album, "Gotta Play" (released October 2000), included guest performances by Roy Ayers and Scott-Heron.