by Ted Gottsegen
When it comes to the discussion of blues and jazz throughout the early part of the twentieth century, there are bound to be crossovers, musicians who played and recorded as both solo blues acts and as ensemble players in the early hot jazz bands. Let's not forget that blues was considered a type of song, not a genre as it is today. One such person was “Papa” Charlie Jackson, a very sophisticated player of the six-string banjo who was one of the earliest and most successful of the solo blues singer/instrumentalists.

Little to nothing is known about Jackson’s personal life, other than that he was born in New Orleans around 1890 where it is presumed that he began playing a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar, similar to the instrument used by Johnny St. Cyr. Jackson settled in Chicago on the famed Maxwell Street around 1920 where he began earning a living by playing on street corners and at house parties. In 1924 he cut his first solo sides "Papa's Lawdy Blues" and "Airy Man Blues" for the Paramount label.

During this period Jackson also became a sideman with many of the hot groups in and around Chicago. In July 1926 Jackson was providing the banjo on “Salty Dog” and “Stockyard Strut” for Freddie Keppard and his Jazz Cardinals which featured another New Orleans stalwart Johnny Dodds on clarinet. Jackson also recorded with two of Tiny Parham’s bands “Tiny Parham and his “Forty” Fives and Tiny Parham and his Musicianswith whom he recorded between 1927 and 1930. Parham's band also featured Punch Miller, Kid Ory and a young Milt Hinton on tuba.

Jackson was the first really successful self accompanied performer and he has the distinction of being one of the creators of “Hokum”, a spicy form of popular song that made repeated and continual references to sex, his most popular composition being “Shake That Thing”. He also recorded with Ma Rainey and Ida Cox before his subsequent death around 1938.

Jackson’s style as a soloist was unique and sophisticated for the period. It ran the gamut from hot chordal solos and single-note plectrum runs a la Lonnie Johnson or Eddie Lang, to the finger picking styles of the rural blues guitarist. He often used fast chordal runs behind his vocals following the melody closely, which gave his songs more bounce and swing. Due to his early death Jackson seems to have fallen through the cracks and is all but forgotten today by critics and historians. Instrumentally he resides on the same plateau with Lonnie Johnson and Teddy Bunn and is one pioneer who deserves wider recognition.