Judge J. Jackson (March 12, 1883, Montgomery County, Alabama - April 7, 1958, Ozark, Alabama) was an American sacred harp composer, songwriter, and educator. His 1934 publication The Colored Sacred Harp was later recognized by scholars such as Doris Dyen[1] and New Grove writer Joe Dan Boyd[2] as an important document of early twentieth-century shape note singing practice.
Jackson was raised in a family of sharecroppers and obtained little formal education as a child. When he was sixteen years old, he left home and took work as a farmhand in Dale County, Alabama, where he settled and eventually earned enough to become a farmer and landowner on his own. He took an interest in the Sacred Harp tradition around the time he moved to Dale County, but his new employer would not allow him to attend the local singing schools, so he learned the technique from his peers instead. He was baptized into Christianity in 1902 and also married that year, and in 1904 began composing lyrics to shape note songs. By the early 1920s, he had moved on to teaching and composing Sacred Harp music, in addition to organizing conventions for the music in the southeast United States.
In 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression, Jackson self-published a 77-song compilation titled The Colored Sacred Harp, which included 18 of his own compositions (17 both words and music, and one music only) and 24 pieces he altered or arranged.[2] Among the pieces in this collection is the Jackson composition "My Mother's Gone," which was eventually adopted into the Cooper revision in the late twentieth century. To finance the publication of The Colored Sacred Harp, Jackson and an associate, Bishop J.D. Walker, paid out of pocket to print 1,000 copies of the text; Jackson then sold the book door-to-door and via singing conventions and educational programs.
Referencesedit
^Doris Dyen, The Role of Shape-Note Singing in the Musical Culture of Black Communities in Southeast Alabama. Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois, 1977.
judge, jackson, other, uses, disambiguation, judge, jackson, march, 1883, montgomery, county, alabama, april, 1958, ozark, alabama, american, sacred, harp, composer, songwriter, educator, 1934, publication, colored, sacred, harp, later, recognized, scholars, s. For other uses see Judge Jackson disambiguation Judge J Jackson March 12 1883 Montgomery County Alabama April 7 1958 Ozark Alabama was an American sacred harp composer songwriter and educator His 1934 publication The Colored Sacred Harp was later recognized by scholars such as Doris Dyen 1 and New Grove writer Joe Dan Boyd 2 as an important document of early twentieth century shape note singing practice Jackson was raised in a family of sharecroppers and obtained little formal education as a child When he was sixteen years old he left home and took work as a farmhand in Dale County Alabama where he settled and eventually earned enough to become a farmer and landowner on his own He took an interest in the Sacred Harp tradition around the time he moved to Dale County but his new employer would not allow him to attend the local singing schools so he learned the technique from his peers instead He was baptized into Christianity in 1902 and also married that year and in 1904 began composing lyrics to shape note songs By the early 1920s he had moved on to teaching and composing Sacred Harp music in addition to organizing conventions for the music in the southeast United States In 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression Jackson self published a 77 song compilation titled The Colored Sacred Harp which included 18 of his own compositions 17 both words and music and one music only and 24 pieces he altered or arranged 2 Among the pieces in this collection is the Jackson composition My Mother s Gone which was eventually adopted into the Cooper revision in the late twentieth century To finance the publication of The Colored Sacred Harp Jackson and an associate Bishop J D Walker paid out of pocket to print 1 000 copies of the text Jackson then sold the book door to door and via singing conventions and educational programs References edit Doris Dyen The Role of Shape Note Singing in the Musical Culture of Black Communities in Southeast Alabama Ph D thesis University of Illinois 1977 a b Joe Dan Boyd Judge Jackson The New Grove Dictionary of American Music 2nd edition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Judge Jackson amp oldid 1147072183, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
