Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The all-new title track Now More Than Ever is a half-spoken / half sung affair, set to a modern day polyrhythmic 'drum and bass' arrangement. Jackson combines the spoken prose styling of Maya Angelou with the righteous-imbued falsetto of Curtis Mayfield; its semi-chanted chorus, 'It's Now! Now more than ever, all the family got to be together', being vaguely reminiscent of fellow NYC soul man Tashan in his mid-late 1980s Def Jam prime. A refreshingly welcome addition to the Jackson songbook that pays respectful homage to two of Black America's greatest ever 20th century creative talents.
Classically trained jazz pianist virtuoso, flautist, songwriter, arranger/producer, musical director and trail blazing creative visionary. Brian Jackson's resume more than speaks for itself; an impressive, musically fruitful trajectory in a career that has spanned well beyond 5 decades. Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City born and raised, a child prodigy with a talent nurtured and molded firmly within Black America's rich jazz tradition (inspired by such blues, swing, bebop and post-bop greats as Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, John Coltrane); one that would be fine honed in later years by the supernatural-like funk, soul and rock sounds of music contemporaries Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield.
As one half of Gil-Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, he would be the music alchemist to his lyrically gifted and charismatic partner's prescient, blues-laden observational musings, forged deep in the crucible of the post WWII Black Arts Movement responsible for such literary and performative talents as Langston Hughes, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Oscar Brown Jr, Nikki Giovanni, and The Last Poets. Theirs would be a collaborative partnership like no other: a reality 'truth to power' manifesto on politics, culture and everyday life, delivered through song via an equally unapologetic blues, jazz and funk rhythm template. Two modern day griots, embedded firmly in that time-honoured African tradition of disseminating news and sharing information.
'Now More Than Ever' is Brian Jackson's latest offering for BBE Music. It takes up the legacy baton some two years on from where 'This Is Brian Jackson' (his impressive debut for the label) left off. Where 'This Is' comprised unreleased demo material from the duo's mid '70s heyday with newer songs that wisely referenced Jackson's funk and jazz heritage, this latest all-new offering pays direct homage to the very songs of that famed partnership. The album's title (taking its cue from the opening chant on ''Peace Go With You Brother”), is an appreciative nod to the enduring relevance of Jackson and Scott-Heron's inspirational gift to the world; songs that are now over 5 decades old, though which speak 'more than ever' before to those major topical issues that afflict our markedly fractured, conflict-ridden and polarised present day world.
...
Real Music For Real People, since 1996.
Website: bbemusic.com
Subscribe to our channel: geni.us/BBEtv
The all-new title track Now More Than Ever is a half-spoken / half sung affair, set to a modern day polyrhythmic 'drum and bass' arrangement. Jackson combines the spoken prose styling of Maya Angelou with the righteous-imbued falsetto of Curtis Mayfield; its semi-chanted chorus, 'It's Now! Now more than ever, all the family got to be together', being vaguely reminiscent of fellow NYC soul man Tashan in his mid-late 1980s Def Jam prime. A refreshingly welcome addition to the Jackson songbook that pays respectful homage to two of Black America's greatest ever 20th century creative talents.
Classically trained jazz pianist virtuoso, flautist, songwriter, arranger/producer, musical director and trail blazing creative visionary. Brian Jackson's resume more than speaks for itself; an impressive, musically fruitful trajectory in a career that has spanned well beyond 5 decades. Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City born and raised, a child prodigy with a talent nurtured and molded firmly within Black America's rich jazz tradition (inspired by such blues, swing, bebop and post-bop greats as Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, John Coltrane); one that would be fine honed in later years by the supernatural-like funk, soul and rock sounds of music contemporaries Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, and Curtis Mayfield.
As one half of Gil-Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, he would be the music alchemist to his lyrically gifted and charismatic partner's prescient, blues-laden observational musings, forged deep in the crucible of the post WWII Black Arts Movement responsible for such literary and performative talents as Langston Hughes, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Oscar Brown Jr, Nikki Giovanni, and The Last Poets. Theirs would be a collaborative partnership like no other: a reality 'truth to power' manifesto on politics, culture and everyday life, delivered through song via an equally unapologetic blues, jazz and funk rhythm template. Two modern day griots, embedded firmly in that time-honoured African tradition of disseminating news and sharing information.
'Now More Than Ever' is Brian Jackson's latest offering for BBE Music. It takes up the legacy baton some two years on from where 'This Is Brian Jackson' (his impressive debut for the label) left off. Where 'This Is' comprised unreleased demo material from the duo's mid '70s heyday with newer songs that wisely referenced Jackson's funk and jazz heritage, this latest all-new offering pays direct homage to the very songs of that famed partnership. The album's title (taking its cue from the opening chant on ''Peace Go With You Brother”), is an appreciative nod to the enduring relevance of Jackson and Scott-Heron's inspirational gift to the world; songs that are now over 5 decades old, though which speak 'more than ever' before to those major topical issues that afflict our markedly fractured, conflict-ridden and polarised present day world.
...
Real Music For Real People, since 1996.
Website: bbemusic.com
Subscribe to our channel: geni.us/BBEtv
