PEOPLE // Musician
GET TO KNOW: MILTON "MILT" JACKSON
by Sydney Ambrus - 07.12.2023
all photos provided by Milton Jackson
Milton “Milt” Jackson is a local musician and retired professor of 40 years from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). He is originally from Detroit, Michigan, but moved to North Little Rock with his family when he was eight. Growing up, Jackson was always attracted to music. His mother noticed his rhythmic mannerisms and habits as early as his infancy and told him he would be a musician. He knew for himself in kindergarten.
His school brought a guitarist to show its students a guitar up close and personal and talk to them about what it was like being a musician. This intrigued Jackson. He commonly saw firefighters or police officers, but the guitarist was different. The guest guitarist let each student string a different cord on the guitar. “When I came up to do mine, it sounded like the greatest song I ever heard in my life, and I never forgot it! And from that point on, I wanted to be a musician,” he said.
Despite Jackson’s first love being the guitar, the trumpet was the first instrument he learned how to play. At the time, there was no way for him to learn how to play guitar, so he opted for the trumpet in 6th grade when he played for the school band. It wasn’t until two years later that an opportunity arose for him to learn guitar. It came from his band director, who oversaw an R&B band that included a guitarist that taught him. From that point on, Jackson mastered and became a guitarist.
During his senior year of high school, he was declared draftable. His parents couldn’t gather the money to send him to college, so after graduation in 1968, he entered the United States Navy. He served for two years and then enrolled in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock). During his senior year at UA Little Rock, he joined the Army National Guard band and played with them for three years. This allowed him to travel and share his talents with the world.
Jackson received his bachelor’s in Music Education from UA Little Rock and his master’s in Music Education from Ouachita Baptist University, where he spent some time with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He went on to attain a second master’s from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) and began applying for band director jobs across the state.
UAPB was the first to contact him, offering a temporary position. He took the position to get some college experience while considering being a public school band director. That 1-year temporary position turned into 40 years at the university, soundly establishing Jackson as an official teaching professor. He taught various topics, from trumpets and other brass instruments to music theory, orchestration, and music history.
Since retiring from the university, Jackson still plays his instruments for private events. And still loves his guitar!
His school brought a guitarist to show its students a guitar up close and personal and talk to them about what it was like being a musician. This intrigued Jackson. He commonly saw firefighters or police officers, but the guitarist was different. The guest guitarist let each student string a different cord on the guitar. “When I came up to do mine, it sounded like the greatest song I ever heard in my life, and I never forgot it! And from that point on, I wanted to be a musician,” he said.
Despite Jackson’s first love being the guitar, the trumpet was the first instrument he learned how to play. At the time, there was no way for him to learn how to play guitar, so he opted for the trumpet in 6th grade when he played for the school band. It wasn’t until two years later that an opportunity arose for him to learn guitar. It came from his band director, who oversaw an R&B band that included a guitarist that taught him. From that point on, Jackson mastered and became a guitarist.
During his senior year of high school, he was declared draftable. His parents couldn’t gather the money to send him to college, so after graduation in 1968, he entered the United States Navy. He served for two years and then enrolled in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock). During his senior year at UA Little Rock, he joined the Army National Guard band and played with them for three years. This allowed him to travel and share his talents with the world.
Jackson received his bachelor’s in Music Education from UA Little Rock and his master’s in Music Education from Ouachita Baptist University, where he spent some time with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He went on to attain a second master’s from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) and began applying for band director jobs across the state.
UAPB was the first to contact him, offering a temporary position. He took the position to get some college experience while considering being a public school band director. That 1-year temporary position turned into 40 years at the university, soundly establishing Jackson as an official teaching professor. He taught various topics, from trumpets and other brass instruments to music theory, orchestration, and music history.
Since retiring from the university, Jackson still plays his instruments for private events. And still loves his guitar!
