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.
Bill Jackson 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 produced,
"Paradise Presents Jazz Funk Hip
HoPoetry", was his pilgrimage to
Senegal's Goree Island, a United
Nations Historical Site in West
Africa. 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 Paradise
(aka Richard Moore) to introduce this
new hybrid of jazz funk, R&B, spoken word,
and hip hop. See
Reviews.
True Vibe Records promises to take
this music to a new level with the release
of its upcoming CD, "Mucho Mas Jazz Funk
Hip HoPoetry", featuring a diverse
group of highly-talented artists
affiliated with the non-profit
organization Urban Voices Collective.
