Javon Jackson and Benny Green perform at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago on June 27th through July 2nd. Javon helps to keep the legacy of Art Blakey and hard bop alive. Jackson was with the last version of the Jazz Messengers (1987-1990). His quartet appearance at Yoshi's, featuring Benny Green, Jeff Chambers and Carl Allen.

Javon Jackson was born in Carthage, Missouri and raised in Denver, Colorado. Sonny Stitt's music inspired Javon to pick up saxophone at a young age. Jackson began working professionally in local jazz clubs at age 16, playing with former Max Roach Quintet pianist Billy Wallace. During this time, Javon met and was befriended by Branford Marsalis, who encouraged Javon to attend the Berklee School of Music. Two of Javon's instructors at Berklee were saxophonist Billy Pierce and pianist Donald Brown, two former members of Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers. One of the seminal groups of the hard bop movement of the 50's and 60's, the Messengers provided a training ground for the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and Javon's early mentor, Branford Marsalis.

Javon met the legendary Art Blakey one night at Mikell's, a New York City jazz club. After sitting in with the Messengers, Javon's skill on the tenor led to an invitation to join the group. Those years under the tutelage of Blakey involved intensive study of both interplay and improvisation. Performing alongside Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett, Wallace Roney and Benny Green, Javon appeared on several recordings with Blakey, including Not Yet (Soul Note), One For All (A&M) and Chippin' In (Timeless).

Javon remained with the Messengers for over three years until Blakey's death in 1990. Looking back on that time, Javon said, "I wouldn't be where I am today without him. Blakey taught me to be a man; he taught me how to be a leader."

Javon earned his degree from Berklee while continuing to tour with Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, Charlie Haden and Cedar Walton. Javon spent several years touring with a host of jazz greats, as well as his own groups, concentrating on technique and composition. He earned his master's degree in music and a position as Assistant Professor of Jazz Education at SUNY Purchase College.

"Javon adds a modern twist to the music we grew up with. Everybody get ready for a funky good time." - Branford Marsalis

Piano master Benny Green is an exciting and hard-swinging pianist in the Bud Powell mold. Green ranks alongside Mulgrew Miller and Donald Brown as one of a number of talented hard-bop keyboard stars to have graduated from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers training ground. During America's hard-bop revival of the ‘80s, Green established his own distinctive voice as the leader of a number of bands.

After high school, Green moved to the West Coast and freelanced around the San Francisco Bay Area, gaining experience working as a sideman. But it was after his return to New York in the spring of 1982 that Green's career took a sharp upward turn. Benefiting from studies with Walter Bishop Jr., he joined Betty Carter's band in April 1983 and began a four-year stint of performing, recording and learning with jazz's most respected vocalist. The piano chair in Art Blakey's prestigious Jazz Messengers followed, as well as a year with the Freddie Hubbard Quintet in 1989. Green joined Ray Brown's Trio in 1992 and was with it un Brown's death.

The Jazz Showcase is in the heart of Chicago just north of Chicago's Loop, four blocks west of Michigan Avenue, five blocks north of the Chicago River, and within walking distance of most downtown hotels at 59 West Grand Avenue, 312-670-2473 www.jazzshowcase.com.