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The man who was reportedly the favorite pianist of president Franklin D. Roosevelt was born into a life of music. Graham Jackson's mother was a well-known singer, and he began displaying melodic and rhythmic talents of his own at an age when most children are trying to master tricycles. Jackson's professional career began in Atlanta after his graduation from high school, his skills quickly landing him a job with the house band at the Royal Theater. As time went on he began leading his own group at this venue, dubbing the new outfit the Seminole Syncopaters.
While most of his musical projects took place around the Atlanta area, Jackson did take a hiatus in Chicago, enrolling at a college in order to study the organ. From the mid-'20s, he was back in Atlanta, his group becoming part of the evening's furnishings at the 81 Theater. Jackson also began working during the day as well, teaching music at both Booker T. Washington High School and Morris Brown College. In the '30s and '40s, he was frequently asked to perform for Roosevelt at the "Little White House" in Hot Springs, Arkansas. There is a famous photograph of a weeping Jackson playing his accordion at Roosevelt's funeral in 1945.
Jackson's bandleading activities continued at a brisk pace through the '50s, often in conjunction with fellow bandleader Ray Snead. In the '60s, GovernorLester Maddox appointed Jackson to the state Board of Corrections, a startling appointment for a black man in Georgia at that time, especially coming from a politician famed for racism. Jackson had retired completely from performing by the mid-'70s, and was deceased by 1985, the year he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. This vintage jazz musician should not be confused with the classical pianist of the same name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
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© 2006 All Music Guide, LLC