Half of the power duo Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Brian wrote, arranged and produced nine albums over an eight-year period. Time and time again, that music finds its way onto tracks like Common's “The People” (based on "We Almost Lost Detroit") and Kendrick Lamar's “Poe Mans Dreams” (based on"Peace Go With You, Brother") and the list continues to grow.

Fifty years later, Brian builds with artists as diverse as Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Midnight Hour, A Tribe Called Quest), vocalist Gregory Porter and legendary jazz bassist Charnett Moffett.

Brian looks to both the present and the past for inspiration in order to honor the ancient tradition of the griot - the African troubadour of truth.

“This music isn’t really mine," Brian asserts. "I learned it from those who came before me. It’s my job to pass on what I've learned. That’s the Tradition.”​

His album, Brian Jackson JID008, w/Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad, is available on the Jazz Is Dead label.