Anthony Jackson

It’s been roughly ten years since I wrote a blog, but the events of this past week have prompted me to do so. As most of you reading this know, we just lost Anthony Jackson. The world’s music community is still absorbing this, as are all of us who were directly involved with him at any point in our lives. A good portion of my texts this week began with ‘Cliff we lost Anthony”, or “I’m so sorry about AJ”, etc. Seeing this over the last 6 days has been quite a struggle, but part of the process.

For many reasons over the last few years, a number of people have reached out to me as a source of information about his condition or his whereabouts. I truly appreciate all that have reached out with condolences for Anthony in the last week or so since he passed. Speaking for myself, I didn’t want to reduce his passing to a simple post saying “I remember the time we got to play together at such and such” and post a picture, etc. 

I am writing this partly to digest this situation as it’s hitting me in waves. His existence meant more to me than I could put into a couple of sentences. I thought I would try to illustrate a little bit about what my experience was with him, not only as a musician but as a person. 

Those of us who were lucky enough to actually get to know Anthony learned very quickly that despite his very tough exterior, he was a very sensitive and caring person to all those around him. Many musicians/fans of his often referred to him as someone who could be quite off-putting at times. I did experience this side occasionally, but the person I came to know over the last 30 years or so turned out to be anything but that.  

My first encounter playing with Anthony was on a gig in a small club in NYC in the early 90s with the composer John Serry. I knew I was about to play with one of my childhood heroes that I had not yet met, so I was VERY nervous and quite inexperienced with the New York scene. When Anthony walked into the room, he had a bit of a menacing presence. I said to him, “Hi, my name is Cliff and I’m playing drums today”.  He simply looked up at me, put his hand out, and said, “Anthony”. 

As we began to play, the sound was unlike anything I had ever known. The spectrum of sound on that instrument was being utilized in ways I had not experienced. I can only attempt to describe this, but it went way beyond the skillset of the instrument and extended to a musical awareness that I could only aspire to. There was an eloquence there that gave everyone a freedom of movement within the music, mixed with a larger than life sound. This in itself was intimidating to me at the time but at the same time very freeing. All of a sudden without realizing it I had access to things within my playing that I could focus on because I was so comfortable with what was going on around me. It was literally another level of musical consciousness. Before that night, I had not been exposed to that level of awareness. It made everything cohesive and unlocked everyone’s creativity. It of course goes without saying that just the rhythmic aspect of playing with him was like nothing I had ever experienced before.
It was literally like playing with a sequencer that was organically moving with the drums. If that makes any sense.

This gig is when I realized first hand why he had the reputation he did and why he was so sought after. From that point on, I attempted to conceptually incorporate what I learned that night into all my musical endeavors. I repeatedly flashed back to seeing Anthony when I was in 7th grade on an Al Di Meola tour in my hometown of San Diego. Getting to play with Anthony that night felt like a once in a lifetime chance to experience that level of greatness, so I just tried to observe. Being the age I was, looking back I probably had no business being there, but I was grateful for the chance. 

Despite the music being quite difficult, the gig went fine, and he was cordial to me the whole evening. I didn’t have the confidence to strike up a conversation with him, so I figured I may be lucky enough to play with him again somewhere in the future and left it at that. I came to find out later that he had come straight from the airport after arriving from Japan to do that gig, which, considering how and what I heard him play, made the night even more memorable. 

About 2 years later I happened to be playing with Michel Camilo in Santo Domingo, and when I took the gig, he mentioned that Anthony was going to be playing on this particular set of shows. When we landed we picked him up as he was on a different flight. I didn’t think he’d remember me, but he turned around and said, “Great to see you …I had fun on that gig we played with John!” He was completely open and very excited to play the gigs we had coming up.  Needless to say, I was grateful he remembered anything about that gig as I never knew what he thought about it up to that point. This was my first time seeing his normal personality in a comfortable setting. He was friendly and not even remotely intimidating.  

On those next few gigs, I got to really experience the impact of what he was doing in a piano trio setting. It was astounding to watch Michel and Anthony play off each other as they knew each other musically inside and out. I just tried to fit in as best I could. The musical education was invaluable. The execution, sound, and general innovation coming from him was once again amazing to observe. 

From that point on, I had the honor of playing with Anthony on a number of different gigs, recordings and tours with various artists. Probably the biggest honor for me was being recommended by him for gigs. I’m a bit choked up as I write this because looking back, it’s occurring to me that the approval of a childhood hero really solidified some things I was wrestling with in my own playing. His musical mentorship changed everything for me. His passing has made me reflect on just what he meant to my awareness as a musician and the amount of conceptual development I was able to access with him. I’m sure many people who have played with him would say the same thing. Anthony could steer a band in an entirely different direction with just one note. 

In the studio with Anthony was where I got to really experience his genius. There was a big band album we did with Michel Camilo called “One More Once”. On this album, all the rhythm tracks were recorded first. We were also recording to tape, so there were not many editing options. There is a song on this album called “Suite Sandrine Part III”. Once we thought we had a final take for this song, we realized that we had left out a section right in the middle of the tune. To fix this, we either had to re-record the song in its entirety or attempt to manually splice in a middle section that was roughly 16 bars of time with a drum fill into the next section. In addition this song was not recorded to click.  Anthony said, “I can do it.  Do you want to try it?” It was a complete guessing game. I basically said I’d do my best. 

We tried it and actually got it after a couple of times, but I did in fact rush the fill out. I was really angry at myself for this, but AJ said, “I’ll fix it”.  To this day I don’t know exactly how he did this, but he played something over my fill that made it feel as if it hadn’t rushed. I haven’t heard this album in years, but I may go back and listen just to find that spot. I remember being baffled at how he did that, but in the end, he DID fix it and we moved on. We were all amazed. After witnessing him on other projects, I noticed his scope of awareness was always fixated on the bigger picture of what was being played by everyone. He was always selfless enough to make everyone sound great in addition to whatever he was doing. Even if it required dumbing down his own part. Another invaluable aspect to consider. I learned this to be a true sign of virtuosity.  

Anthony also had so many answers to musical questions that were perplexing me at that time in my development.  I once asked him, “How do you always seem to know the perfect thing to play in all these situations?” His response: “You play exactly what you think is right until someone tells you not to.”  That one sentence helped me tremendously throughout the various musical situations I was confronted with from that point on.

At one point, Anthony recommended me to the great pianist Akiko Yano, and we began touring Japan once a year for roughly 12 years. So this meant every November/December, I got to spend roughly 6 weeks in Japan with Anthony and Akiko.  For those who may not know, Anthony had a very deep connection with Japan and the people. He loved it there. The culture, audiences, and everything associated with Japan really made a mark on both of us through those years, and I still feel that way today, as did he before his passing.  

This yearly tour allowed me to really get to know Anthony. We became quite close musically and personally. At one point he came to my hometown, stayed at my house, and met my family, all but one of whom are musicians. Anthony was not only a brilliant bass player but also was interested in many topics outside of the bass. I believe he went to Bronx Science High School and was fascinated with engineering, astronomy, short-wave radio, etc. Many times after gigs in Japan, he would take me outside and point to different constellations up in the sky, telling me what they were and any relevant information about them. My oldest brother is an aeronautical engineer, and upon meeting Anthony, he was amazed at his knowledge of what was currently happening in the world of engineering. Anthony once questioned him for hours about things he had read in Popular Mechanics and other magazines, including projects my brother was actually working on at that time. This particular brother isn’t a musician and wasn’t really familiar with who Anthony was. At one point, he asked me, “Who is this guy, and how does he know so much about these subjects?” I later informed him of just who he was speaking with. 

I apologize for this long blog post. I could go on for hours with stories about Anthony. I guess I’m attempting to digest his passing through writing about it. I think we all knew at some point this time would come, but it’s very difficult to accept. The recent benefit for Anthony back in February 2025 was an amazing event that allowed all of us to reconnect with him to some degree. I think it meant a lot to him to see his friends and musical companions all in the same place. Speaking for myself I was very happy to see him out and about, even if it was just for one night.

I must mention that without the care of Dannette Albetta, the last 10 years of AJ’s life would be vastly different. She looked after him daily and cared for him much more than any of us will ever know. She also was the main organizer of the event for Anthony back in February. Dannette and Bob really saw this through and were with Anthony at the most important moment of his life. I think I can speak for everyone when I say they went above and beyond. I know it took a toll on them, but god bless them for doing that. Also, everyone at Fodera was essentially extended family to him and provided support for Anthony in the last few years. From what I understand, Anthony was in quite a bit of pain, and his quality of life had suffered significantly by the time the end came around. I believe he’s in a better place now with his mom and many who have left before him. 

I doubt I’ll ever be impacted personally or musically to that degree in my life again. Situations like this should remind us all that we never know when a memory is being made or something is truly impacting us. I was incredibly lucky to have been associated with Anthony Jackson personally and professionally. Attempting to absorb this over the last week has brought this home for all of us who were lucky enough to experience his presence.

Anthony, I will never be able to thank you enough for including me in your vortex of impact on the musical world.