Biographical Note

Franz Jackson was born on November 1, 1912, in Rock Island, Illinois. When he was thirteen, his family moved to the South Side of Chicago. Jackson played clarinet, tenor saxophone, bassoon, and was also a vocalist. He first taught himself how to play saxophone out of books, then received additional training on saxophone as well as clarinet at Tilden Vocational high school. He also studied arranging and composition at Chicago Musical College. Jackson married the singer Maxine Johnson. He later married Virginia and they adopted two children.

In 1930, Jackson played with Albert Ammons, as well as Al “Punch” Miller, Carroll Dickerson and Jimmy Noone. In 1937, at the age of 25, Jackson replaced Ben Webster in Roy Eldridge’s band. The following year, Jackson again replaced Webster in Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra. Jackson also wrote arrangements for Henderson.

During the 1940s, Jackson lived in New York and spent some time living in Sweden. He played with Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Benny Carter, the De Paris brothers, Cab Calloway, Frankie Newton, James P. Johnson, and Red Allen. He wrote arrangements for Pearl Bailey and Cootie Williams. He toured with United Service Organization camp shows in the Pacific Theatre from 1947-1948, and continue to tour Europe from 1948-1949. Jackson served as composer and arranger for Earl Hines, Jack Teagarden, and Raymond Scott. He also worked with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Benny Goodman.

In 1950, Jackson returned to Chicago and in 1957 he formed the “Original Jazz Stars,” who performed at the Red Arrow Club in Stickney, Illinois. Band members included Bob Shoffner, Al Wynn, Joe Johnson, Lawrence Dixon, Bill Oldham, and Richard Curry. From 1957-1967, the band recorded seven albums. Starting in 1960, Jackson managed the Red Arrow Jazz Club. That same year, he started Pinnacle Records.

In the 1950s and beyond, Jackson played regularly at numerous other Chicago locations, including Jazz, Ltd., Old Town Gate, Dick’s Last Resort, Andy’s-Jazz at Noon, Braxton Seafood Bar and Grille, and Joe’s Be-Bop Café. He also played at the Rib Exchange in Schaumburg, The Hide Away in St. Charles, and Pops for Champagne in Highwood. Jackson also toured the country and the world. He played at events such as the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, Circus Museum Parade and Jazz Jubilee in Milwaukee, Elkhart Jazz Festival, La Crosse Jazz Festival, and Valparaiso University in Indiana. Some of his international appearances include the University of Windsor in Ontario, Jazz Festival in Ascona, Switzerland, and other events in Israel, Germany, France, and Holland.

In 1996, Jackson was a recipient of the Arts Midwest Jazz Masters Award, along with Eddie Johnson. That same year, he earned the “Man of the Year” Award at the Elkhart Jazz Festival. Posthumously, he received the 2008 Theodore Thomas History Maker Award for Distinction in the Performing Arts from the Chicago History Museum. He was interviewed by Studs Terkel for Steppenwolf Theater’s TRAFFIC series on improvised music in 1997, appeared on the Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keller in 2002 and was featured on the cover of Chicago Jazz Magazine in 2004. He was honored in 2005 as one of the five world’s greatest living jazz saxophonists by the American Heritage Jazz Series and received the Jazz Institute’s Walter Dyett Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He was also nominated for the 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship and was featured at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Jackson performed for nearly eighty years. He was once quoted, “For me jazz is like liberty and freedom. As long as there is freedom and liberty there will be jazz – because that’s the kind of music it is.” His last performance was three months before his death.

Franz Jackson died at the age of 95 on May 6, 2008.