…is a rising educator, trombonist, and composer. He currently serves as a Band Director and the Director of Jazz at Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Additionally, Jackson is a Teaching Artist of Jazz Trombone at Drake University.
As a jazz artist, Jackson’s recent accomplishments include: finalist in the 2022 and 2024 J.J. Johnson Jazz Trombone Competition (International Trombone Association); winner of the 2024 National Solo Jazz Competition (American Trombone Workshop); winner of the 2024 Jazz Trombone Day competition (Yamaha/BAC/University of North Texas). He was accepted into the 2022 Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy Big Band led by Christian McBride, and he received recognition for an Outstanding Small Ensemble Arrangement by Downbeat Magazine in 2021. As a classical trombonist, Jackson won the 2019 Concerto Competition at his alma mater, Luther College.
During Jackson’s tenure at Valley High School, the program has received distinctions at the state and national level from such organizations as Bands of America, the Iowa Jazz Championships, and the National Band Association. Prior to beginning his teaching career, Jackson graduated summa cum laude from Luther College with a bachelor’s degree in music education, and he completed his master’s degree in jazz trombone performance at the University of North Texas (UNT). There, he directed the Five, Six, and Seven O’Clock Lab Bands and he helped instruct undergraduate jazz courses. Equally at home on the podium, Jackson earned accolades from Eugene Migliaro Corporon at the 2021 UNT Conductor’s Collegium.
Jackson’s performance credits include the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Nick Finzer Jazz Orchestra, the Iowa Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, the Max Wellman Big Band, the Broadway tour of “The Wiz,” and the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. He is a Theodore Presser Music Scholar and he holds membership in the Pi Kappa Lambda honor society. Jackson is proud to maintain an active schedule throughout Des Moines, IA as a performer and clinician.
