True Vibe Records (TVR)
Background
True Vibe Records, based in Oakland, California,
was founded in 2005 by owner Bill Jackson, who
has had a burning passion to offer a new genre
of music to the listening public. This
music, called Jazz Funk Hip HoPoetry,
consists of inspirational and conscious-raising
spoken word, hip hop lyrics, and singing over
upbeat jazz, funk, R & B, Caribbean, and hip hop
instrumental beats and music. According to
Jackson, the music is a potpourri of musical
elements and influences designed to entertain,
educate, enlighten, and inspire people.
True Vibe Records was an outgrowth of his
background as a musician, educator for more than
20 years, and other life experiences. Jackson’s
first musical training started at the early age
of 7 when he took piano lessons, after which he
played trumpet in public school concert and jazz
bands. He later learned how to play bass guitar
and played with a number of R & B and funk bands
during his teen and early adult years in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
His experience playing guitar bass in church and
coordinating programs for assemblies as a public
school teacher led to a profound interest in
brining this new music to people. Being a
proponent of higher education and cultural
enrichment, Jackson had long been yearning to
create this hybrid of music to uplift people,
especially in the African-American community,
and to help raise the level of consciousness to
affect positive social change.
Along with the variety of his life experiences,
he also credits his educational background for
shaping his approach to music.
He holds
a B.A. Degree in Journalism and Sociology from
California State University, Los Angeles and an
M.A. Degree in
Education from the University of San Francisco.
Upon graduating from college at
CSU-LA, he worked at a staff writer for weekly
newspapers in Compton and South Central Los
Angeles over a two-year period.
The genesis of the first album the native
Oaklander produced “Paradise Presents Jazz Funk
Hip HoPoetry” was his pilgrimage to Senegal’s
(West Africa) Goree Island (a United Nations
Historical Site). According to Jackson,
visiting the holding pens for African captives
during the slave trade there brought on a
“spiritual awakening.”
He collaborated with Bay Area slam poetry icon
Richard Moore (better known as Paradise) to
introduce this new hybrid of spoken word/rap.
See reviews at
Reviews. True Vibe Records promises to take this music to
a new level with the release in March of 2008 of
its upcoming CD “Jazz Funk Hip HoPoetry-Phaze
2,” featuring the highly talented new group
Sounds of Urban Life Soldiers with a host of
guest artists.
S.O.U.L.S. consists of poets Keith Thompson,
Raquel Ramsey, and President Davis,
along with hip hop artist Keldamuzik and
songstress Shavone. JFHP-Phaze 2 is bound to
explode on the scene and pioneer a new era of
music.
