I was named Grant Ivory, Jr. after my dad, and nick named Little Jackie after my uncle who wanted me named after him. My dad refused, stating I was his last born son and he had not name my oldest brother junior. After grade school the "Little" was dropped and the majority of the people in the community and school knew me as Jackie.I was born in Blytheville, Arkansas on February 27, 1937, and then moved to South Bend, Indiana, a babe in arms. I learned to play the piano by ear at the Herring House, a local community center in South Bend.I had been playing for a while before my mother found out and unrolled me in piano lesions at my grade school. The class was during the lunch hour at Oliver Junior High School. I then took private piano lessons the last year of Junior High School and the first year of High School.I started DUWOP singing on the corner of Scott Street and Western Avenue with Otis Bailey, Bobby Stone, Claude Bowling, and Carl Shane. Eventually I had to start playing the piano to keep us in tune. This experience ended up with me featured in a piano trio with friends Carl Shane on drums and Robert Cobb on bass.During this same time I started singing with Bobby Stone and Ike Cunnigan, a very good sounding vocal trio.Carl Shane was drafted into the U.S. Army and our trio started using a new kid by the name of Bill "Sticks" Nicks on drums. Since then, Nicks has become a legend in his own right.Moving on, I was hired to play the piano by Jean Hampton, a female Tenor Saxophonist, also a South Bend native.All this before I even finished high school.The time came and I graduated from South Bend Central High School in 1955. I then moved to East Chicago, Indiana to work at Inland Steel Mill, playing music on the weekends with Oscar "Baby" Jones.I enlisted into the U.S. Army in 1959, and proudly served three years in the Army Security Agency, primarily in Germany. After an Honorable Discharge in 1962, I played with guitarist Don Davis in Indianapolis, Indiana before starting a Hammond B3 based trio, organ, saxophone and drums.I then went on the road for approximately 14 years, including tours with Willis Jackson and Junior Walker and the All Stars.After all that touring I moved to Oakland, California in 1974 and three years later married my childhood sweetheart in 1977.During my time in California I played professionally in a quartet in almost every venue in the San Francisco Bay area and the state of California. We were the house band at two well established blues venues in Oakland; Jimmies Entertainment Complex (www.sweetjimies.com) on Sundays and the 5th Amendment (www.5thamendment.com) on Thursdays.One of the highlights in the career of the quartet I was in was in 1997 when we performed at the 50th birthday party for one of the members of the Rolling Stones, which was also hosted by Mick Jagger at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California.For additional information and booking contact Grant Ivory, Jr.:
E-mail: [email protected]
Jackie Ivory Site: http://givoryjr.home.att.net
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The latest releases on Honeycomb Records are available on the WEB and through The Orchard:
1. "LAYING IN THE CUT"
2. "JACKIE IVORY LIVE AT JACK'S BAR"
http://cdnow.com
http://www.musicchoice.com
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.theorchard.com
Or order by e-mail at: [email protected] or [email protected]
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*At the age of 24 Jackie made his first recording for Dunwich Production, "Soul Discovery", which was released on the ATCO Label: Atlantic Records.*Jackie is currently signed with Honeycomb Records, South Bend, Indiana, Mr. Robert Plummer executive publisher and CEO.*Jackie is also a registered songwriter/composer and music publisher with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).Jackie has toured across the USA, Canada, and Europe.JACKIE IVORY has worked with some of the best Jazz and Soul musicians and vocalist internationally, i.e.: Willis Jackson, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Red Prysock and Arthur Prysock, Etta Jones, John Lee Hooker, Bill Jennings, Floyd Smith, Wes Montgomery, T-Bone Walker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Paul Renfro, Paul Gonzales, Chris Colombo, Grant Green, and Calvin Keys just to name a few.Jackie is currently co-hosting South Bend's HOTTEST BLUES JAMS at the ANCHOR INN every Sunday and every other Thursday with his life long friend BOBBY STONE. He is also planning on recording a live CD in the months to come.Keep checking back for more updates!
