Jazz great Daniel Jackson dead at 77

A mentor to many, the award-winning San Diego saxophonist, pianist, composer, band leader and music teacher created rich artistic legacy

Photo: Hayne Palmour IV — UT San Diego

By George Varga6:39 P.M.SEPT. 3, 2014

Daniel Jackson would likely have achieved fame, if not fortune, had he left San Diego decades ago to pursue a career for New York or Los Angeles.

Instead, the La Jolla-born jazz great chose to remain here for all but a few years, when he recorded in New York and toured the world as a saxophonist in the bands of such legends as Ray Charles and Buddy Rich. Mr. Jackson’s decision to forgo potential stardom elsewhere enabled him to teach and nurture several generations of musicians here. He continued to do so even after doctors told him, in April, his bladder cancer had spread and he had only two months to live.

Mr. Jackson, 77, died early Wednesday at the home of family friend Bob Jones in Rancho Penasquitos, with his partner and caregiver, Dorothy Annette, at his side. His rich legacy will live on in the scores of performers he inspired. They include such current and former San Diego musicians as Grammy Award-winning singer Gregory Porter, bassists Mark Dresser and Bob Magnusson, saxophonist Arthur Blythe, violinist Jamie Shadowlight, trombonist (and local TV weatherman) Dave Scott, trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos, James Zollar and Mitch Manker. He also mentored saxophonist Hollis Gentry III and keyboardist Carl Evans, Jr. (both now deceased) of the San Diego pop-jazz band Fattburger, and countless others.

“Daniel touched so many musicians and was beloved,” said UC San Diego music professor Dresser, who first played with Mr. Jackson here in the Taumbu Ensemble in the late 1970s.

“Daniel would have been world-renowned, without a doubt, but he wanted to stay in San Diego,” said Castellanos, who moved here in 1995 and was quickly mentored by Mr. Jackson. "He was a musical father to me and he influenced not only on my playing but my composing. I learned so much from him and he touched a lot of people. We just lost the 'J' in Jazz in the San Diego music scene."


Others to sing Mr. Jackson’s praises include singer-songwriter A.J. Croce and esteemed pianist Mike Wofford, whose past collaborators include Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.
read more: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/03/daniel-jackson-obituary/