Richard Jackson, who reminds some of a certain American Idol singer, got his first career break because of his stature.
By TONY GREEN
Published March 11, 2004
[Times photo: Bob Croslin]
Richard Jackson performing recently at Blue Martini at International Plaza in Tampa.
TAMPA - For Richard Jackson, the best part of being a singer is not looking like one.
"When people first meet me, they think I'm a wrestler or a football player," says the 300-pounds-plus native of Cincinnati. "Anything but a singer."
Which could be a problem for someone whose livelihood depends on charm, rather than intimidation. Jackson, 36, however, owes a good deal of his career to his Ruben Studdardlike stature.
"I got my first big break because someone thought I could beat people up," says Jackson, who now lives in St. Petersburg. "I was walking down the street near a club back around 1994, when the owners asked me if I wanted a job as a bouncer. Now that club had a lot of the biggest names in music coming through - Peabo Bryson, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Caldwell - so I said, yeah, but I'm really a singer. They didn't believe it. When I gave them a tape, they still didn't believe it, until they actually heard me sing for them in person. Eventually I wound up opening for some of the acts that came through."
Jackson may be looking for his own opening act in the future. Already a charter member of Theo Valentin and Friends (along with Valentin and childhood friend Kevin Wilder), he's increasing his regional profile with two radio-friendly singles, Crazy and On and On. The smooth, jazz-inflected tracks, which have been getting airplay on area radio stations such as WTMP-AM 1150 and WMNF-FM 88.5, showcase Jackson's Luther Vandross-influenced phrasing and scat singing.
Jackson's late-life entry into the recording business started at the King Cobra talent show in Tampa nearly two years ago.
"I wound up taking first place," he said. "And after that I met a producer called D-Ice," he said. "That got me hooked up with the NuTainment management group, and we started recording about four months ago."
"When I first heard Richard, I felt he was the best R&B singer I had heard in a long time," said NuTainment co-manager Albert Alexander, whose group has showcased Jackson in venues throughout Florida and Georgia. "He can do things and hit notes that nobody can. When he sings, it sounds like he's singing directly to you."
Not bad for someone whose singing career started on a dare.
Jackson's father, an accomplished gospel quartet singer, tutored him as a child, and Jackson sang in church through much of his youth. In his spare time, he often traded chops with Wilder, then a schoolmate at Cincinnati's Winthrow High School. He limited his public singing to church until his junior year in high school.
"The school talent show was coming up," he said. "And some of my friends - who knew I could sing - dared me to enter. The thing was, I had a crush on this one girl, and I figured that this would be a good way to impress her."
He didn't score any points by fainting, which he did once he saw the crowd of 3,000 that packed the school auditorium. Then his father came backstage, propped him up and told him to "throw out a rose to break the ice."
"I did that, and when I started to sing, they started laughing. Then I got mad and really started singing (Wilder provided the accompaniment), and everybody shut up. By the time I finished, and saw all that underwear flying onto the stage, I figured, "Man, this is the job for me."'
After high school, he studied classical and jazz singing at Central State University in Ohio and did demos for national R&B acts such as Midnight Starr and Calloway.
He picked up his career in Cincinnati after college, gigging around town, and working on cruise ships. After hitting a high point with his club/bouncer gig, he hit a dry spell.
"About this time, Kevin, who had left for St. Petersburg, started calling me, telling me to come down here."
He balked at first, but took Wilder up on his offer.
That turned out to be a good move. Jackson's first gig was with percussionist Gumbi Ortiz in the first incarnation of what eventually became the Latino Projekt. That band included Wilder, drummer Ravi Jakhotia and bassist Patrick Bettison.
From there he hooked up with Theo Valentin and Friends in 1998, again on Wilder's recommendation.
That gig has taken him overseas on military tours, as far as Singapore, Turkey and Egypt. He's had feelers from major labels, but says he'll "begin serious label shopping after the album is done in a couple of months.
"It might seem like a late start, looking to get signed at my age, but I don't feel that age makes any difference. Anything is possible, and I feel good things will happen to me."
PREVIEW: Richard Jackson performs with Theo Valentin and Friends from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Blue Martini at International Plaza, 2223 N West Shore Blvd., Tampa.
