No matter where in the world Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson played, he considered Atlanta his second home. Mr. Jackson, a jazz drummer, spent more than 20 years playing in and around the city, before he relocated to the D.C. area, but his heart never completely left, his brother said.
“He not only had family here, but a lot of music connections and friends too,” said Curtis Reynolds, who lives in Atlanta. “He loved it here.”
James Charles Jackson Jr., know as Jimmy or Junebug by most, of Silver Spring, Md., died Jan. 28 of complications associated with congestive heart failure. He was 55. A funeral was held Feb. 4 at Providence Baptist Church. Burial was private and Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home was in charge.
A jazz memorial was held Tuesday at Dugans on Ponce where Mr. Jackson was a longtime regular and occasionally sat in with a local jazz ensemble. A similar memorial jam session was held in D.C. on Feb. 2, at HR-57, where Mr. Jackson was the house drummer.
Mr. Jackson, born and raised in Kalamazoo, Mich., came from a musical family, his brother said. They grew up surrounded by instrumentalist and vocalists, so music was in his blood. Before he reached high school, Mr. Jackson was the drummer for his brother’s band, Ripple. The group recorded and played gigs in the area. When Mr. Reynolds decided they had to take their act on the road, their mother was clear, Mr. Jackson couldn’t go, he had to finish school.
As soon as Mr. Jackson graduated from high school, in 1977, he landed a job in Atlanta, as the drummer for The Counts. He played with them for a few years, and then transitioned to the Mose Davis Trio, when The Counts folded, Mose Davis said. Mr. Jackson was much younger than his bandmates, but he played well beyond his years.
“From the beginning he’d always played with cats older than him, and that gave him a more mature sound,” Mr. Davis said. “As he was coming up, he heard all kinds of music, and he was able to adapt what he heard.”
Mr. Jackson got his big break in Atlanta, when he met jazz musician Jimmy Smith. Mr. Smith had a show in Atlanta and Mr. Davis loaned out his Hammond organ for the performance. After moving the instrument, Mr. Jackson asked if he could sit in on the sound check.
“He blew Jimmy [Smith] away,” Mr. Reynolds said of his brother. “Within weeks, Jimmy [Jackson] had a job playing for him.”
Though playing with Mr. Smith took him all over the world, Mr. Jackson's primary residence remained in Atlanta. He never lived anywhere as much as he lived in Atlanta, his brother said.
During his time in Atlanta Mr. Jackson also played with the Paul Mitchell Trio at Dante’s Down the Hatch, and anybody who would let him sit in for a set or two.
“Jimmy was the consummate musician,” Mr. Reynolds said. “He’d leave a gig looking for somewhere else to play or sit in. He loved the music.”
Mr. Jackson left Atlanta in 2006 and moved to New York and then on to the D.C. area a year or so later. He was a well-respected musician who will be sorely missed, Mr. Davis said.
“Everybody who knew Jimmy had a Jimmy Jackson story to tell, and it would always end with a laugh,” he said. “There were no long faces when he was around. And you add to that, he was a great musician… that’s all I can say.”
Mr. Jackson is also survived by his wife, Chandra Jackson of Plant City, Fla.; sons, James C. Jackson, III and Steven Jackson both of Plant City, Fla.; mother Buzette Jackson of Kalamazoo, Mich.; and sisters, Jackie Jackson of Atlanta and Joan Harris of Kalamazoo, Mich.
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