American musician, educator, and composer Javon Anthony Jackson has used Jazz to not only bring Joy to his life, but also to the many people who have had the opportunity to hear him play.

Born in Carthage, Missouri, but raised in Denver, Colorado, Jackson found his love for Jazz as a boy listening to his parents play their records. In the fourth grade, when he got his opportunity to pick an instrument, he chose the saxophone and began his lifelong journey. 

During the latest episode of Black Joy Blazers, Javon Jackson discussed his multifaceted journey within the world of jazz.

For Jackson, Jazz is based on the African American experience.

“When you think about jazz music, it’s America’s classical music,” he said. “It’s based on the African American experience. So when you think about pop music, I mean, you can’t really have popular music without black people.”

He emphasized the significance of joy, seen as gratitude, over financial gain, highlighting the profound influence of Jazz greats before him. 

 “Joy is gratitude, said Jackson. “I think that should come first before the opportunities, before the money, the joy, because we play it, because we’re grateful. If I can’t be grateful right now, then it’s very hard to move forward. So joy is everything. To be thought of as a black Joy Blazer means that hopefully I’m standing on the shoulders of these incredible folks who came before me. Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, all these incredible artists I just named, there’s hundreds and they’re all Black Joy Blazers.”

Jackson also discussed the importance of service and connection in the music community, advocating for the preservation of jazz history through educational programs for underserved communities.

“The great Dizzy Gillespie had a statement that sums it up, Jackson said. “ You have to have one foot in the past and one foot in the future. So it’s kind of hard to move forward if you don’t know what’s occurred before you.  And actually, the past can help inform you as you start to build your house. So it’s like building a house without a foundation.”

One of the most important gems that Jackson dropped during his Black Joy Blazers interview was his approach to failure and success. 

 “It’s foolish to look at success without looking at the other aspects of success,” he said. “It should be okay to embrace the fundamentals. It shouldn’t be that it’s a difficult process. It’s all part of the process. And the big thing is being able to accept criticism because we actually have more failures in our life than we have success, because we need the failures to have the success. So if you have 10 successes, you probably have how many failures? Success doesn’t go this way, goes this way, doesn’t really. It’s not a straight line.”

Javon Anthony Jackson is the epitome of a Black Joy Blazer. It’s in the way that he talks, the way that he walks, and it’s certainly in the way that he plays that sax.

Check out the latest episode of Black Joy Blazers above. 

SEE ALSO:

Black Joy Blazers: Nikki Giovanni On Black History, Banned Books And Finding Joy In Resistance

LaTosha Brown Is A Black Joy Blazer Who Has Dedicated Her Life To The Cause