Veteran Jamaican bass guitarist Clifton “Jackie” Jackson, whose unmistakable style helped drive the pulse of some of the most beloved recordings in Jamaican popular music, died this morning after a prolonged stay in hospital.
He was 79.
Jackson, who was married to renowned Jamaican singer Karen Smith, had been in Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James, for nearly two months.
He is survived by four daughters.
His death marks the closing of yet another chapter in Jamaica’s remarkable first generation of musical trailblazers-men who often labored away from the spotlight, yet whose artistry helped carry ska, rocksteady and reggae to audiences across the globe.
For more than 50 years, Jackson’s bass was inseparable from Toots and the Maytals, though his musical reach stretched well beyond that iconic band.
He contributed to recordings by some of Jamaica’s most prominent artists, among them Bob Marley and the Wailers, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, The Melodians and Desmond Dekker, and his international session work also included American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
