Audio Samples
Jackson has composed some 15 to 18 hours of music, including chamber and instrumental pieces as well as electronic works. Take a listen to a few of his compositions below. Please message Jackson via the Contact page if you are interested in playing one of Jackson's compositions.
Suite for Solo Guitar, Op. 21 (2015):
Jackson wrote his Suite for solo guitar, Op. 21 in January 2015. In four brief movements, it was composed with classical guitarist John De Chiaro in mind. Mr. De Chiaro has performed the piece several times and will be making a professional recording soon. For now, the MIDI files are included below.
Trio for Clarinet, Double Bass, & Piano, Op. 20 'Jazz Cats' (2013-14):
Jazz Cats is Jackson's response to the artful jazz of figures like Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Maurice Ravel. Rather than being true jazz, Jazz Cats is in reality an abstraction on jazz characteristics – elements like the walking bass, the twelve-bar blues, and expressive melody lines – and likewise there is as much chromaticism, counterpoint, and formal structure as any of Jackson's recent works. The second of its three movements is called "Midnight Serenade" and can be heard below. Jazz Cats has not yet been performed, so it is the MIDI file which is included.
Study for Trombone & Player Piano from Op. 19 (2013-14):
The Study for trombone and player piano is one of five Studies for Player Piano in Concert created by Jackson. There is an essential contrast in these pieces between the mechanical player piano and the solo instrumental parts designed for living, breathing musicians. In the Study for trombone, a second contrast exists between the chromatic opening and the tonal second section which satirizes a group of tacky pre-Classical Era trombone concerti. The MIDI file is included below.
Composition No. 1 for piano, Op. 17 (2011):
Composition No. 1 marked Jackson's first exposure to writing with twelve-tone rows. Composed in November 2011 while studying with Richard Rose, Composition No. 1 approaches serialism in the traditional sense as heard in the very earliest serial works – Arnold Schoenberg's Five Pieces for piano of 1923. The MIDI file is included below.
Contrapunctus No. 1 for three cellos, Op. 11 (2009-11):
Contrapunctus No. 1 was the first composition by Jackson to ever be performed, and it is the live recording by cellists Paul Christopher, Milovan Paz, and Christina Lake which is heard below. Contrapunctus came at a time when Jackson was interested in exploring new approaches to tonality, and the piece modulates through several transposed modes while maintaining the same pitch as its tonal center.
The Void, electronic, Op. 9 No. 3 (2011):
The Void is one of Jackson's latest and most perfect realizations of the electronic poem genre he began exploring in his very first compositions. Written in November 2011, The Void favors lower pitches and moves at a slower pace than many of Jackson's other electronic poems, gradually painting the dark and desolate expanse its name implies.