Ali Jackson (jazz drummer)

Ali Jackson Jr. (born April 3, 1976) is an American drummer, musician, composer, arranger, educator, and percussionist. Son of Ali Jackson. Jackson started playing drums at the age of 2.

Jackson received a steady stream of lessons and mentoring from a range of artists including Max Roach, Milt Hinton, Dr. Donald Byrd, Betty Carter, Aretha Franklin and James Mtume. During one lesson when he was 12, Ali met Wynton Marsalis and impressed the trumpet player.

Jackson graduated as a music major with high honors from Detroit’s Cass Technical High School.

As a student at the New School University for Contemporary Music in New York City, he studied with Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He attended college on a full academic scholarship, earning an undergraduate degree in music composition. In 1994, Jackson was selected as the guest soloist for the Beacons of Jazz program honoring jazz drummer Max Roach. The Thelonious Monk Institute and Jazz Aspen selected him to participate in the first annual Jazz Aspen for gifted and talented musicians. Jackson was also the first recipient of the state of Michigan’s Artserv Emerging Artist award in 1998.

Jackson is from Detroit. A reviewer for The New York Times in 2009 wrote that "Jackson generates a subtle but irresistible force when he plays, making even the smallest gestures advance his agenda of locomotion."