Like a lot of other artists who find their way to the Tampa Bay area, Gisele Jackson was drawn first by family.
Her father, who had exposed her to so much blues, soul and R&B music when she was growing up in Baltimore, had moved here. So had her sister. Now the Tampa Bay area is another stop on a musical journey that’s taken her around the world.
In her childhood, her dad cooked soul food in a neighborhood bar and he used music as a babysitter for Gisele when he brought her with him to work.
By the time she was in college at Howard University, Gisele was fronting bands that specialized in soul music.
“American soul music is timeless,” she says. “It is just a righteous music with astute vocals and funky instrumentals.”
She got a non-musical degree but the pull of the stage was powerful and she has developed a career as a singer, actor and recording artist. She’s shared stages with stars like Bette Midler, the B-52s, and the Commodores. She joined Ray Charles’ band as one of the “Raylettes. ”
And she is best known in dance music circles for her hit “Love Commandments,” which reached Number 3 on Billboard’s dance charts. Billboard dubbed her “a diva,” on the strength of her recordings.
These days she is comfortable working in multiple genres – disco, soul, house music, jazz, R&B and Broadway. She performs her own show called “Jump” in venues in the U.S. and overseas.
After years in Brooklyn, N,Y., she had been living in Barcelona for three years when she started looking around the U.S. for a new home.
“When I decided to come back I thought about Austin. After living in Barcelona, I didn’t want to go back to the New York winters.”
Her father had lived in this area until his death in 2006. And her sister had moved here as well. So she came to the Tampa Bay area and it was a good fit.
“I’m hoping this will be a home for me,” she told me. “I still travel and perform and get to New York a lot – there’s no place like that!”
Along with her national and overseas shows and big corporate gigs, but she’s also fronting some bands in this area – often at Eddie V’s in Tampa and this Saturday, with pianist Phil Magallanes and an all-star band in the Palladium’s intimate nightclub, the Side Door.
She worked with Phil on the mainstage at the Palladium in September as part of his Steely Dan band – Show Biz Kids. She delivered a roof-rattling rendition of the Aretha Franklin hit – Rock Steady – that night.
Come catch Gisele, Phil and the rest of the band, Phil’s Juke Joint, in the Side Door this Saturday night. For profiles of the band – check my previous blog on this page.
For tickets and information call our box office at 727 822-3590 or follow this link for online ticket and info.
Leave a Reply