He was a vibraphonist born Milton Jackson in Detroit Michigan who was exposed to music from an early age and started to play the guitar when he was 7 years old. He moved on to the piano when he was 11.
By the time he attended high school he played drums, timpani and violin and was a professional singer when he was still only 16 with the Evangelist Singers which was a touring gospel quartet. At the same time he started to concentrate on the vibraphone after hearing Lionel Hampton play and in 1945 he was hired by Dizzy Gillespie to perform which his sextet before moving onto his larger groups. At some point he also managed to serve in the US Army for 2 years.
His work with Dizzy Gillespie was a stepping stone for him to work with many of the important jazz artists of the day such as Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk and Woody Herman among others.
During this time he co-founded a quartet with pianist John Lewis, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke who worked with big bands and then became a group in their own right, changing their name to the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1950. The name was changed to the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1952 with John Lewis becoming the musical director by 1955.
In 1959 he married Sandra Whittington who he had a daughter with and they remained together until his death.
The Modern Jazz Quartet worked for around twenty years before splitting up in 1974. They later reformed in 1981 and continued until 1993 after which Milt went on solo tours.
He wrote “Bags’ Groove” where he used his nickname of “Bags” which had been given to him while performing in Detroit. Other compositions are “Bluesology” and “The Late Late Blues”.
As you can imagine, his recordings as a performer and/or composer are numerous and far too many to mention the all, but a selection of them include his own Day in New York, The Early Years 1945-52, Feelings, Invitation/Big Bags, Jackson’s Ville, Jazz ‘N’ Samba, Just the Way It Had to Be, Kind of Jackson, Night Mist, Roll ‘Em Bags, Soul Pioneers, Sunflower/Goodbye, Wizard of the Vibes/Milt along with Things are Getting Better with Cannonball Adderley, Guitar for Sale by Jan Akkerman, Collaboration with Laurindo Almeida, Cool Breeze by Louis Armstrong, Kansas City 5 and 1942 by Count Basie, Things We Like by Jack Bruce, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 and Mess Around by Ray Charles, Magic by Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald, Plays Andre Hodeir by Kenny Clarke, The Forgotten 1940 Carnegie Hall Concert by Nat King Cole, Trane 00 by John Coltrane, Changes: The 1955 Sessions and Porgy and Bess by Miles Davis, Sacha’s Guitar by Sacha Distel, Centenary Collection Carrying Case by Duke Ellington, Two Faces of Fame by Georgie Fame, West Coast Jazz by Stan Getz, Anthropology, Live at the Spotlite, School Days and When Be-Bop Was King by Dizzy Gillespie, Pre-Heads by Woody Herman, Being Myself by Lena Horne, Jefferson Airplane Loves You by Jefferson Airplane, What’s New by J.J. Johnson, This Is How I Feel About Jazz and Smackwater Jack by Quincy Jones, Nigel Kennedy Plays Jazz by Nigel Kennedy, Shades of Blue by Ben E. King Hey Baby! by Chuck Mangione, Herbie Mann returns to the Village Gate by Herbie Mann, Mann Made Hits and The Soul of Mann by Manfred Mann, Sound Loaded by Ricky Martin, Collection 1945-53 by Howard McGhee, Born 2 B Blue by Steve Miller, Bluesology, Concorde, Django, The Early Years 1952-56, Jazz Dialogue, Jazzology, Odd Against Tomorrow and Savoy Jazz Super by The Modern Jazz, Quartet, Bags Meets Wes with Wes Montgomery, ‘Round Midnight and Criss-Cross by Thelonious Monk, Songbook by Gerry Mulligan, Reunion Blues and The Silent Partner by Oscar Peterson, Very Tall by The Oscar Peterson Trio, Alone Again Naturally by Esther Phillips, Sonny Rollins Plays the Blues by Sonny Rollins, Walkin’: Live at the Blue Note by George Shearing, American Look/Place Vendome by The Swingle Singers, For Lovers Only by The Temptations, Cherry/Don’t Mess With Mister T./The Sugar Man by Stanley Turrentine, A Jazz Session (video) by Sarah Vaughan and Mellow Mama by Dinah Washington.
He was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Berklee College of Music in 1989 and was also inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
In 1999 he died of liver cancer in Manhattan, New York when he was 76 years old.
Sources:
- https://www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/milt-jackson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Jackson
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/milt-jackson-mn0000489845/biography
- https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/milt-jackson
- http://hardbop.tripod.com/milt.html
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9903208/milt-jackson
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/milt-jackson-mn0000489845/credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/149254-Milt-Jackson