Jackie Ivory

Born on February 27, 1937, in Blytheville, AR, Jackie Ivory developed a career as pianist and organ player. His family relocated to South Bend, IN, during his childhood, where he began teaching himself piano before private instruction expanded those initial explorations. By high school he performed and sang with various pickup vocal groups across South Bend. Following Army service, Ivory worked alongside jazz guitarist Don Davis and then assembled a trio that included saxophone, drums, and his Hammond B-3 organ. At age 24 he released his debut LP, Soul Discovery, on the Atco label in 1965. Subsequent sideman work took him on extensive tours backing tenor sax greats like Junior Walker and Willis "Gator" Jackson. He settled in Oakland, CA, in 1974, establishing the city as his career base for the decades that followed. The Jackie Ivory Quartet came together in 1983, and he continued regular B-3 performances with the group through the '80s, '90s, and '00s. Jackie Ivory Live at Jack's Bar appeared on Orchard in 2001. Two years later Honeycomb issued Laying in the Cut, a loose, effortlessly funky set by Ivory and his quartet featuring brother and drummer Henry Lawrence Avery, vocalist Harriet E. Davis, tenor saxophonist Nancy Wright, and guitarist Yoshinobu "Takezo" Takeda.