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“Bob Dylan reminds me of Miles Davis and Duke Ellington in a way. Like them, he’s always trying to find another better version of what came before, with one foot in the past and one foot in the future.”
– Javon Jackson
Removing the lyrics from a Nobel laureate’s songs is risky business, but in the capable hands and emotive style of jazz saxophonist Javon Jackson, the results are captivating. No stranger to sensitive musical interpretations (Muddy Waters, Frank Zappa, Al Green), Javon steers his new album, “Jackson Plays Dylan,” through more than three decades of Bob Dylan’s legendary career and most revered songs.
Joined by Jeremy Manasia on keys, Isaac Levien on bass, Ryan Sands on drums (plus Grammy-winning guest vocalists Lisa Fischer and Nicole Zuraitis on two tracks), Javon & Co. brilliantly navigate the space between familiar melody and improvisation, building sounds and rhythms as commanding as Bob’s own lyrics. Of the many highlights, there’s the bluesy opener, “One for Bob Dylan;” the hard-bop bounce of “Tombstone Blues;” Lisa’s rousing vocal turn on “Gotta Serve Somebody;” and “Lay Lady Lay,” with its infectious interplay of bass, Rhodes & sax. “I’m always trying to sing on my saxophone,” Javon says. And sing he does.
One of the top-tier players in jazz today, Javon Jackson has recorded more than 20 albums as a leader and appeared on more than a hundred – working with titans like Freddie Hubbard, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Art Blakey, Christian McBride, Elvin Jones, and Charlie Haden. A graduate of Berklee School of Music, he has served as Director of Jazz Studies at The University of Hartford since 2013.
