Editing Tony Jackson (pianist) (section)

==Career==
[[File:TonyJacksonGoodCard.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Advertising flyer of Jackson, ca. 1910]]
Jackson became the most popular and sought after entertainer in [[Storyville, New Orleans|Storyville]]. He was said to be able to remember and play any tune he had heard once, and was hardly ever stumped by obscure requests.{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=23}} His repertory included [[ragtime]], [[cakewalk]]s (one of his show stopping tricks was to dance a high kicking cakewalk while playing the piano), popular songs of the day from the United States and various nations of Europe and Latin America, [[blues]], and light classics. He was also "openly, almost defiantly [[Homosexuality|homosexual]]."{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=22}} After hours, he would go with friends to The Frenchman's saloon, which catered to musicians and [[Cross-dressing|cross-dressers]].{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=24}}

His singing voice was also exceptional, and he was said to be able to sing operatic parts from baritone to soprano range. Fellow musicians and singers were universal in their praise of Jackson, most calling him "the greatest", and even the far-from-modest [[Jelly Roll Morton]] ranked Jackson as the only musician better than Morton himself.{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=22}} Morton met Jackson in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/26/jazz|title=The man of a thousand songs: the forgotten star who inspired Jelly Roll Morton|last=Brown|first=Clare|date=2008-09-25|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-03-31}}</ref> Jackson became a [[Mentorship|mentor]] to Morton.{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=22}} Jackson also wrote many original tunes, a number of which he sold rights to for a few dollars or were simply stolen from him; some of the old time New Orleans musicians said that some well known [[Tin Pan Alley]] pop tunes of the era were actually written by Jackson.

[[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]] noted "He was great because he was original in all his improvisations... We all copied him."  More than Jackson's music was copied: he was always well dressed.{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=23}} Jackson dressed himself with a pearl gray derby, checkered vest, [[ascot tie]] with a diamond [[stickpin]], with [[sleeve garter]]s on his arms to hold up his cuffs as he played.{{Sfn|Bullock|2017|p=34}} This became a standard outfit for [[ragtime]] and [[boogie-woogie|barrelhouse]] pianists; as one commented "If you can't play like Tony Jackson, at least you can look like him".<ref>Rose, Al (1978) ''Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red Light District'', University of Alabama Press. {{ISBN|0-8173-4403-9}}</ref>