A Global Soul

Gisele Jackson learned to love soul music sitting atop a black-owned bar in a tight knit Baltimore neighborhood. It was the early 1970’s and, in her Father’s version of daycare, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples, and John Lee Hooker were Gisele’s capable babysitters. While pop whipped up soul food suppers to go in the back, Gisele’s black patent leather shoes dangled with delight at the soulful sounds coming from the old school jukebox, and she marveled at the joy it brought others\. Soon, she was a student of Baltimore’s live music scene, and that which had already given birth to Eubie Blake, Billie Holiday, and Cab Calloway, was now jumpin’ to the sounds of the R&B and funk bands who came through the city. It was here, at stage edge, that she learned the art of the performance from the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Earth, Wind and Fire, and the Ohio Players.

This musical fabric became a part of Gisele’s natural soul and it wasn’t long before this young soul sister with the Angela Davis afro began to stun onlookers with her own world class voice and show-stopping presentation. By the time she was a fine arts freshman on a talent scholarship at Howard University in Washington, D.C., she was fronting and touring throughout the city with her first classic soul band, Reminiscence.

“American soul music is timeless,” says Ms. Jackson. “It reflects the spirit of a generation that fought back, believed, worked hard and hoped for better days. Best of all, it is just a righteous music with astute vocals and funky instrumentals.”

Today, Gisele is a musical soul on a continuum that allows her to share and interpret her beloved music with audiences around the world - from New York to Norway, and from Morocco to Japan. In turn, the always evolving national and international music scene continues to influence her concept of soul. She is now the voice, writer and producer of a new millennium rhythm – Global Soul. Like American soul music, Global Soul is a rhythm, a spirit and a movement. Its humanitarian lyrics and eclectic instrumentals give new voice to a generation schooled in the power of soul. Her partners in this journey are Beruit producers Walid Nahaus and Yann Charaoui. Their debut CD, MojoDriver Driving will be available for licensing and distribution in Spring 2009.

Vivre la joie Live! – All Around the World
Gisele toured for six months as a Raylette with the late Ray Charles at the culmination of his career and has aslo performed solo at the nation’s leading jazz houses including, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Tattoo, Maxims, The Supper Club in New York, and Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. She has also performed as the opening act for Tito Puente, Bette Midler, Ricky Martin, Cleo Lane, Eddie Palmieri, The Commodores, B52’s, Tania Maria and Deodato and Ahmad Jamal. Her other credits include performances at festivals around the world, including those in Austria, Germany, Japan, Italy, Lebanon, Switzerland, Hungary, Monaco, Morocco, Sweden and Norway; at celebrity weddings; and at numerous corporate events for companies such as Mazda Motor Corp., SAS/Braathens Airlines, INC. 500, and Siemens. Hollywood also looks to Gisele to entertain guests as she performed at the New York premiere for Paramount Pictures’ DeLovely starring Kevin Kline.

JUMP! with Gisele Jackson™ was formed in 2004 and completely summarizes what Gisele is known for — a high energy evening of entertainment with Gisele serving as story teller and front woman for a full band of stand-out musicians. Gisele’s vocal range allows the two-set evening to feature spirited interpretations of everyone from ‘Retha to Rihanna as her stage persona transforms from jazz songbird, to blues lady, to dance hall diva. It is a full celebration of classic American jazz, blues, soul, R&B, funk and dance tunes, along with her original compositions.

In Case You Can’t Get There…
Visit Gisele on wax. Billboard magazine called her a “rising diva” on the heels of her worldwide “club classic” smash hit, “Love Commandments.” The single reached No. 3 on Billboard’s dance chart, catapulting Gisele into the hierarchy of house music and into the consciousness of the dance community. This power track garnered heavy play from every top house music DJ in the world, with many of them placing it #1 in rotation. Her performance skills have brought down the house at Vinyl and Twilo in New York City, at Billboard Live and Axis in Los Angeles, and at The Red Ball in Toronto.

Music as Theatre!
Her stage credits include performances as Effie in Dream Girls, Bessie in the Life & Death of Bessie Smith, Evilene in The Wiz, Luttibelle in Purlie and Frankie in Carmen Jones. Gisele has done several commercials, as well as radio, television and film productions, including Paramount Pictures’ The First Wives Club. Gisele, affectionately called GiGi by her longtime friends, honed her theatrical music skills while obtaining a bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Howard University. She is a founding member of DIVA, Inc.—The Society for Women in the Arts, a national organization that supports the career development of women who have chosen the arts as a profession.