Lee Jackson (born 1944)[1] is an English bass guitarist known for his work in the Nice, a progressive-rock band, as well as his own band formed after the Nice, Jackson Heights, and finally Refugee with Nice drummer Brian Davison and Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2021)

Lee Jackson
Lee Jackson, during the Wolverhampton leg of the Keith Emerson & The Nice tour, October 2002 during which a double album Vivacias was recorded.
Background information
Birth name	Keith Anthony Joseph Jackson
Born	1944 (age 77–78) Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Origin	London, England
Genres	Progressive rock blues boogie
Occupation(s)	Musician singer
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar vocals
Years active	1960s–present
Formerly of	The Nice Jackson Heights Refugee

Biography

He was born Keith Anthony Joseph Jackson in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Jackson first played with unknown bands, The Vondykes and the Invaders. He then joined Gary Farr and the T-Bones, meeting their organist Keith Emerson. The two met again later, to form a backing band for American singer P. P. Arnold: she had been with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, and was starting a solo career in England.

The Nice were formed by Emerson and Jackson, with guitarist-trumpeter David O'List and Ian Hague on drums, soon to be replaced by Brian Davison. Emerson left the band to form Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1970; Jackson subsequently formed the band Jackson Heights with Charlie Harcourt on guitars, Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia on bass and Spanish guitars and Tommy Sloane on drums.

Jackson Heights disbanded after their first album King Progress in 1970. Jackson reformed the band, with keyboardist Brian Chatton (ex-The Warriors (British band) starring Jon Anderson and ex-Flaming Youth with Phil Collins) and John McBurnie on acoustic guitar and vocals. Michael Giles played drums on the next three albums, but the band toured as a trio without drums. On their last record, "Bump n' grind", Ian Wallace (also an ex-King Crimson) and Deep Purple's Ian Paice shared drums with Michael Giles.

Jackson went on to form the band Refugee, with drummer Brian Davison from The Nice and Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz. They released one album before Moraz quit to join Yes.

After Refugee broke up Jackson formed Stripjack which toured for a short while at minor venues including in January 1977 the Rochester Castle in Stoke Newington, London.

Jackson and Davison reformed The Nice again with Emerson, accompanied by The Keith Emerson Band, for a tour of England in 2002; a live album Vivacitas was recorded and published that same year.

Lee Jackson has played bass in a New Orleans-style rock 'n' roll and jazz band, called the Ginger Pig, based in Northampton, for more than twenty years since returning to the UK. He also formed a small combo called 'Lee Jackson's Barking Spyders', with members of a Beatles tribute band called Accrington Stanley. He has a hoarse singing voice (which has frequently drawn criticism, notably from Emerson[2]) and an almost percussive bass playing style.

Discography

The Nice

Studio albums

• 1968: The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (Immediate)
• 1968: Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Immediate)
• 1969: Nice (Immediate)
• 1970: Five Bridges (Charisma)
• 1971: Elegy (Charisma)

Live albums

• 1996: America – The BBC Sessions (Receiver, 1996)
• 2001: The Swedish Radio Sessions (late 1967) (Sanctuary, 2001)
• 2002: BBC Sessions (Sanctuary, 2002)
• 2003: Vivacitas (Sanctuary, 2003)
• 2009: Live at the Fillmore East December 1969 (Virgin, 2009)

Jackson Heights

• 1970: King Progress (Charisma UK CAS 1018, CAS.1018 – Mercury US SR-61331)
• 1972: The Fifth Avenue Bus (Vertigo – 6360 067)
• 1972: Ragamuffins Fool (Vertigo – 6360 077)
• 1973: Bump n' Grind (Vertigo – 6360 092)

Refugee

• 1974: Refugee – Charisma Label
• 2007: Live in Concert Newcastle City Hall 1974. Newcastle City Hall 1974, Voiceprint label. Contains two songs from the Nice era, "The diamond hard blue apples of the moon" and the Bob Dylan song "She belongs to me" as well as songs from the studio album from Refugee.

See also

References

External links

• Lee Jackson at AllMusic
• Lee Jackson at IMDb