Kingston might seem an unlikely source for a blues and jazz sensation, but The Jackson Four are making plenty of waves around the world. What’s perhaps even more surprising is that it’s all being run from a tiny office in a family home in Chelsea.
Kingston resident, music and events small business owner Peter Jackson and his blues jazz quartet The Jackson Four are enjoying success from Mozambique to Malaysia, Brisbane to New Orleans, The Netherlands to South America, with their CDs and online digital releases featuring regularly on radio shows and in music publications.
A highpoint so far has been the band’s November 2015 UK blues and jazz radio success with their debut CD, Love the Life, reaching No.17 on the British blues charts, followed by nominations for UK Blues CD 2015. That’s no mean feat when you’re up against some of the greatest names in international blues and jazz music.
To follow up on this success - especially in the UK, where radio presenters and fans of the band alike have repeatedly demanded a tour - Peter undertook a promotional visit to the UK last August to lay the groundwork for a possible future tour. This resulted in radio interviews and invitations to perform with top UK blues and jazz musicians at some of London’s iconic music venues in Soho and Covent Garden, including the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
In August there will be another promotional visit to the UK, this time with a new CD release in hand. Already requests for radio interviews are stacking up, and a one-hour live-to-air performance and interview has been arranged with broadcaster Grace Black on her show The Jazz Lounge on Scotland’s K107FM and networked on PURE Jazz Digital Radio across Europe.
In the meantime, Peter will perform with the duo version of the band, The Jackson ‘LITE’, at The Craft & Co Farm and Café, 170 Riverend Rd, Bangholme, on Sunday, March 19, and Sunday, April 9, at 1pm. The full band will return with a show at Café Moto Australia, 611 Nepean Highway, Carrum, on Saturday, April 8, at 7.30pm.
Visit the Jackson Four’s website or Facebook page for more performance dates.