NewzKINGSTON, Jamaica—Shadow Minister of Culture, Creative Industries and Information, Nekeisha Burchell, has joined several others in paying tribute to legendary Jamaican bass guitarist Clifton “Jackie” Jackson, describing his six-decade career as an important part of the foundation on which Jamaica’s music achieved worldwide influence. Jackson, 79, died on Wednesday at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay following a period of illness. Burchell, in a press release, said that while Jackson’s musical journey began in Kingston, he also became deeply woven into the cultural life of western Jamaica, where he and his late wife, acclaimed Jamaican singer Karen Smith, made their home and left a significant musical and cultural footprint.
“Western Jamaica was very proud to call Jackie and Karen our own. Together, they were a formidable musical couple; two exceptionally gifted Jamaicans who gave generously of their talent and whose contribution extended well beyond the stage. With Karen’s passing in 2021 and now Jackie’s, Jamaica has lost a remarkable musical partnership,” she said.
Smith, a celebrated cabaret performer and former president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians and Affiliates Union, was particularly closely associated with Montego Bay and St James, where she contributed not only as an entertainer but also to the development and nurturing of other performers. Jackson, meanwhile, played with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics before establishing an association of more than half a century with Toots and the Maytals. His extensive recording career also included work with Bob Marley and the Wailers, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Desmond Dekker, The Melodians, Jimmy Cliff and international singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
“For generations of listeners, some of the most recognisable sounds in Jamaican music carried Jackie Jackson’s fingerprints, even when his name was not the one on the record sleeve. He was part of that extraordinary generation of musicians whose creativity, discipline and musicianship helped take Jamaica’s sound to the world,” said Burchell. She said Jackson’s life also provided an opportunity to recognise the instrumentalists and session musicians whose contributions are sometimes less publicly celebrated than those of the singers whose names appeared on the records.
“The singer may be the name on the record sleeve, but behind so much of t…
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