#waynejackson

The Memphis Horns’ Wayne Jackson Dead at 74

Trumpeter Wayne Jackson, one-half of the legendary Memphis Horns, died Tuesday night of congestive heart failure, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis reported.

Jackson was 74.

“He was a beautiful soul who touched the world with his trumpet,” wife Amy Jackson wrote on Facebook. “As we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his incredible musical legacy, which he leaves with us. God gave him a gift and he used it to the fullest.”

After working as Stax session musicians and appearing on records by Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave and others, Jackson and saxophonist Andrew Love incorporated the Memphis Horns in 1969 and began working on their own. For the next 35 years, they played live and in the studio with everyone from Robert Cray to Willie Nelson to Sting, the Doobie Brothers, Joe Cocker, Jimmy Buffett, U2 and scores of others.

The duo kept working until Alzheimer’s disease forced Love to retire from music in 2004; Love died in 2012.

“Our hearts are heavy as we remember the great trumpet player, Wayne Jackson,” singer Ruthie Foster tweeted.

Steve Cropper mourned his “dear friend” Jackson online, recalled their days together in the Mar-Keys Band and said Jackson gave many private tours of the Stax Museum.

“No words to describe his greatness or our grief,” read the museum’s Twitter feed.