BJ dad

BJ Papa , also BJ Papa , (born February 9, 1936 in Mobile as William Jackson , † August 31, 2008 in San Francisco ) was an American jazz pianist , music teacher and composer .

biography

Jackson took piano lessons from his mother, a professional pianist. As an army medic he was stationed in San Francisco in the mid-1950s, where he came into contact with jazz in the officers' club. After his discharge from the Army in 1956, he stayed in the San Francisco Bay Area and began taking saxophone lessons after hearing jazz stars like Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon in Jimbo's Bop City in the Fillmore district, but gave up playing the saxophone and shaped his own piano playing based on the stylistic example of Thelonious Monk . He played with John Handy and Bishop Norman Williams, but was best known for running jam sessions across town over the years . Supported by musicians such as Dewey Redman , John Handy and Frank Butler , he became a well-known institution in the jazz scene in San Francisco and an active promoter of a young generation of musicians (such as vocalist Kim Nalley ), with whom he played in numerous sessions and in clubs like Wild West, Cafe Du Nord , Caffe Trieste and Pearl's in North Beach . He also paid homage to the district with one of his compositions. He released an album under his own name, BJ's World . In 2003, the Upper Grant Avenue Art Fair Association honored him for his contributions to the North Beach music scene and culture. He died of liver failure in late August 2008.

Web links

• Obituary in San Francisco Gate 2008
• Concert report at Jazzpolice