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All Music Guide:
Drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, and his Decoding Society of the 1980s, learned from the example of Ornette Coleman's Prime Time and are a logical extension of the group. They featured colorful and noisy ensembles; were not afraid of the influence of rock; and their rhythms were funky, loud, and unpredictable. Jackson played professionally in Texas with James Clay when he was 15. He moved to New York in 1966, where he worked with Byard Lancaster, Charles Mingus, Betty Carter, Stanley Turrentine, Jackie McLean, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Dorham, and most significantly Albert Ayler (1966-1967), among others. He took time off of the scene and then joined Ornette Coleman's Prime Time (1975-1979). Jackson also worked with Cecil Taylor (1978-1979) and James "Blood" Ulmer (1979-1980). The Decoding Society (formed in 1979), through the years, featured many talented and advanced improvisers, with the best-known ones being Vernon Reid, Zane Massey, Billy Bang, and Byard Lancaster. Jackson also played with the explosive group Last Exit (starting in 1986), and in the early '90s with Power Tools. Ronald Shannon Jackson's music is not for easy-to-offend ears.
Wikipedia:
Ronald Shannon Jackson (born January 12, 1940) is an American jazz drummer.
Jackson was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He is notable for his unusual approach to his instrument, which draws as much inspiration from military and parade bands and traditional jazz drumming. He is the only person to have recorded and performed with the three prime shapers of free jazz: pianist Cecil Taylor, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.
In 1979, he founded his own group, the Decoding Society, playing what has been dubbed free funk: a blend of funk rhythm and free jazz improvisation.
With Sonny Sharrock, Peter Brötzmann, and Bill Laswell, Jackson was a member of the quartet Last Exit. In 1987 he co-founded the groups Power Tools (with guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Melvin Gibbs) and SXL (with Laswell, violinist L. Shankar, Senegalese drummer Aiyb Dieng, and Korean percussion group SamulNori); in 1988 he and Laswell teamed with Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata in the trio Mooka. He has also recorded with Charles Tyler (Jackson's first recording date), James Blood Ulmer (Jackson was an original member of Ulmer's band Music Revelation Ensemble), Billy Bang, Albert Mangelsdorff.
His most recent tours included performances in Europe with Wadada Leo Smith and John Lindberg on one hand, and with Melvin Gibbs, Joseph Bowie, Vernon Reid, and James Blood Ulmer on the other.
