Press for A Round Goal
A Round Goal
Jackson's fourth release as a leader is a mature, one of a kind work that erases boundaries between the prewritten and the adlib and successfully blends together various genres. The provocative and invigorating music has all the makings of a classic.
Hrayr Attarian, All About Jazz
Jackson has been a vital and distinctive player on the Chicago scene for quite a while. With A Round Goal, he has come into his own as an arranger, composer, and leader. Bill Meyer, Downbeat (four stars)
[on Overture] Jackson shows a deep understanding of the reeds, assigning different lines from each player to construct something fantastically detailed and sonically lush…[it displays] the rigor and quality that characterize the whole remarkable thing.
Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
…ensemble that brings together unfettered, squirrelly swing with a penchant for puckered, droning dissonance, round-robin refraction and delicate minimalism. It’s a testament to the leader’s writing that he can reign in the group’s size to feel like a trio or quartet…
Clifford Allen, New York City Jazz Record
...it has the potential to become an architectural masterpiece. With this band executing the blueprint plans, that's exactly what it becomes.
…the synchronicity these guys achieve in executing them is nothing short of terrifying.
Tom Burris, Free Jazz Blog (five stars)
A CD that stands as a vital document for understanding the evolution of contemporary jazz.
Giuseppe Mavilla, Scrivere di jazz
Best of 2013 Lists
Dusted Magazine, Year-End 2013, Derek Taylor
Free jazz blog Happy New Ears 2013
Free jazz blog 2013's top ten lists, Tom Burris
Chicago Reader, The Year In Chicago Jazz and Improvised Music, Peter Margasak
Interview for Point of Departure
Keefe Jackson email interview with Troy Collins, March 2014 issue of Point of Departure.
Keefe Jackson, saxophonist/clarinetist/improvisor/composer, arrived in Chicago in 2001 from his native Fayettevile, Arkansas. He performs regularly in the U.S. and in Europe with many musicians including Tim Daisy, Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Jason Roebke, Guillermo Gregorio, Jason Adasiewicz, Mike Reed, Jason Stein, Josh Berman, Aram Shelton, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Frank Rosaly, Jason Roebke, Anton Hatwich, and Marc Unternaehrer in groups such as the Fast Citizens, Chicago Luzern Exchange, and Keefe Jackson's Project Project (big band) and Likely So (reed septet). He has also appeared with Michael Moore, Ab Baars, Michiel Braam, Satoko Fujii, and Anthony Coleman. Bill Meyer, writing in the Chicago Reader, commended: "...the impeccable logic of his lines and the richness of his tone leave you wanting more... Jackson's high-register squiggles and coarsely voiced, rippling runs push the limits of the tenor's tonal envelope." Frank van Herk, writing in de Volkskrant (Amsterdam), asserted that "...[Jackson] has an old-fashioned, warm-woolly sound, and a feeling for melodic lines that take their time in unfolding." He was mentioned in the 2012 DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star Tenor Saxophone category. Recordings are available on Delmark and Clean Feed Records.