Michael Lee Jackson is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

, photographer and attorney. He was part of

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

's backing band on the

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

frontman's US solo tour in August and September 2006. He also performed on guitar and acted as musical director for Gillan's CD/DVD ''

Gillan's Inn ''Gillan's Inn'' is an album by Ian Gillan in celebration of his 40 years as a singer. The first release was a DualDisc composed of both a CD and a DVD side. The CD featured re-recorded tracks from all eras of Ian Gillan's singing career. In a ...

'' (2006), ''Live in Anaheim'' also on CD/DVD (2008), and ''One Eye to Morocco'' (2009). He has been Gillan's creative manager for solo projects since approximately 2005. In 2010-11, Jackson scored and engineered the sound track to the indie feature film, ''The Bad Penny'', directed by Todd Bellanca. Jackson also played guitar on "Holy Water" off the 2011

WhoCares WhoCares was a supergroup formed by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath in 2011 with the participation of a great number of rock artists as a charity project to raise money to rebuild a music school in Gyumri, Armenia, aft ...

project by

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

, Ian Gillan and friends, a project to raise funds for the rebuilding of a music school in Gyumri, Armenia. Jackson also contributed engineering and production on "Holy Water" and recorded Gillan's vocals for the "

Out of My Mind / Holy Water "Out of My Mind / Holy Water" is a fund-raising two-track CD single from the supergroup WhoCares, a Tony Iommi and Ian Gillan collaboration, a direct continuation of the Rock Aid Armenia project. The CD contains the single "Out of My Mind" and th ...

" single from the '' Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares'' album. He released a solo album, ''In a Heartbeat'', in 2006 on which Gillan was credited for backing vocals, and

Tommy Z Tommy Z is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and audio engineer, who has released four studio albums and one live album to date. He has been described as a "blues treasure" by Jim Santella ( WBFO), and as ...

contributed guitar work. The CD was recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ' ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

. He also worked with

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

bassist/vocalist, Greg Lake, and Animal Planet on a record of ELP/King Crimson remakes. The record was fully recorded, but has not been released. He was front man for the Buffalo, New York band Animal Planet a group that recorded a three CDs, including ''Toast'', ''Wag!'', and ''Dawn''. Animal Planet, as well as his own Michael Lee Jackson Band have toured extensively overseas to entertain US troops. He toured with

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs is an American alternative rock band that was founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four album ...

in 1998-1999. He replaced Robert Buck when he temporarily left the band to work with the rock supergroup

League of Blind Women League of Blind Women was a short-lived alternative rock supergroup that included Rob Buck (lead guitar) from 10,000 Maniacs, Jerry Augustyniak (drums) from 10,000 Maniacs, Casey Orr (bass) from Gwar and Rigor Mortis, Mike Scaccia (guitar) fro ...

. Jackson is the son of Bruce Jackson, a professor at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. Michael Lee Jackson is an attorney from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

with a practice concentrating on entertainment, contracts and general business. He is a graduate of

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

Law School. He clerked for civil rights lawyer,

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

, while in school. He received the Thurgood Marshall Award for pro-bono representation of an indigent defendant in a death-penalty case. Jackson is also a photographer specializing in portrait and landscape photography. Jackson was selected by the jury of the Echo Art Fair in Buffalo, New York to exhibit his work in the May 2016 event. In the summer of 2016 Jackson completed work on the album Death By Sunshine, co-produced by Jackson and Nick Blagona. It is scheduled for a fall 2016 release. Michael currently resides in southern California.

References

External links

Flickr page
American rock guitarists American male guitarists University at Buffalo alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-rock-guitarist-stub