Chase Jackson
"As vibraphone and marimba player, I realized early on in my professional career that my instrument(s) don't have a long tradition of fitting in the wide variety of styles that I perform in and compose. Through being a multi-instrumentalist and playing bass and guitar in a variety of rock, hip-hop, funk and fusion bands, I wanted to be able to adapt my vibraphone to fit these styles. Augmenting my acoustic Musser M55 Vibraphone with piezo pickups from K&K was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Not only does it allow me to do gigs without the vibraphone's cumbersome resonators and amplify my sound through an amp or PA, but it gives me the option to run my vibes through effects pedals that alter my sound and expand my playing in ways that I never would have imagined.
Some of my favorite effects include using the volume pedal to alter the attack of the instrument and create dramatic swells that mimic a vocalist, horn player or guitarist. Delay and reverb allow lines to blur together and create open washes or rhythmic delay effects. Using overdrive and distortion makes the instrument sound almost akin to an overdriven rhodes or electric guitar and the pog octave allows me to double heavy bass figures, create shimmering high textures, or lush organ pads. Expanding my instrument through the use of pedal and amplification allows me to fit the vibraphone into a multitude of new musical contexts and has allowed me to grow as a versatile and creative musician. There's still much more to experiment with and I'm excited to see where these innovations take me!"
Website: wwwchasejacksonmusic.com E-mail: chasejacksonvibes@gmail.com
Bio
Gear
Ernie Ball Cry Baby Wah
TC Electronics Hall Of Fame
Morley Expression Pedal
Marshall Blues Breaker II
Mooer
George Ls Cables
Road Runner Case
Musser m55 Vibraphone
K&K Straight Rail Vibraphone Pickup System
Line 6 Digital Delay DL4
Boss Super Overdrive SD-1
Electro Harmonics Pog 2
Ernie Ball VP JR
Born in Oakland, California, Chase Jackson began playing the vibraphone and marimba after early exposure to jazz and afro-cuban jam sessions in the diverse Bay Area musical community. Chase attended Berkeley High School where he performed with their renowned big band in addition to leading and composing music for a number of his own ensembles. While in high school, Jackson performed at numerous national jazz competitions winning outstanding soloist and ensemble awards in multiple divisions.
Jackson studied jazz composition and performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music under the Robin Eubanks, Jay Ashby, Paul Samuels, Dan Wall, Billy Hart, Jamey Haddad, Wendell Logan and many others. He also completed his masters in music at the University Of Southern California where he studied jazz composition and jazz vibraphone performance with Vince Mendoza, Russ Ferrante & Bob Mintzer. Chase has performed with a number of masters including Joshua Redman, Ambrose Akinmusire, Geoffrey Keezer, Gary Novak, Steve Turre, Calvin Keys, Justin Faulkner, Leo Blanco, Jamey Haddad, Rufus Reid, Chris Thile and Gary Bartz
Chase has performed original music worldwide at the Monterey, Kuriskiki, and Montreux Jazz Festivals and has toured throughout Asia and Europe in addition to notable venues throughout the United States. He has also had his music performed on The CW Network show "90210", MTV's "Are You The One", TNT/TBS, The Hallmark Channel and The Disney XD.
Chase currently lives in Los Angeles working on a number of original projects ranging from modern jazz, film music, genre blending classical/jazz fusion and live electronic music. In addition to the vibraphone, Chase regularly performs on marimba, bass, guitar and keyboards in a variety of groups including KNMDK, Wake The Wild and his own varied ensembles.
Jackson is an educator and performing artist with Ludwig-Musser Percussion, BlueHaus Mallets and K&K Amplification. Chase currently is a college professor at Icon Collective, an innovative music college focusing on music production, songwriting and modern music in Los Angeles where he teaches music theory, arranging, songwriting, keys, guitar and Ableton music software. In all these undertakings, Chase aims to utilize the wisdom gained from his experience with such master musicians, honoring and progressing their tradition of innovation and exploration into the 21st century.