Brian Jackson

★★★★ This Is Brian Jackson. BBE. DL/LP

Classic soul funk from former Gil Scott-Heron collaborator.

In 1977, while recording

Bridges with Gil Scott-Heron – his musical partner from 1970-80 – Brian Jackson started demo-ing tracks intended for his debut solo album. They remained unfinished, but when the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s Daniel Collás approached him at a New York show and suggested they work together, the pair took the tracks as the starting point for what Collás conceived as Jackson’s first proper solo outing – 2000’s Gotta Play, his actual first, though competent, could have been better. This Is Brian

Jackson, however, captures Jackson at his very best. His flute passages, soaring, flickering, melodious; his keyboard work spiritual and lyrical; his vocals smooth and heartwarming. These eight songs are both questing and healing, from the classic Bridges-styled All Talk to the meditative Nomad and hypnotic Afrobeat groove of Mami Wata.