Bruce Jackson passes away

WORLD: The pro audio world is mourning the sudden and tragic death of legendary sound engineer and audio innovator Bruce Jackson. A keen pilot for many years, Mr Jackson died on the evening of Saturday 29th January when his single engine plane crashed over Death Valley, near Furnace Creek in southern California. 

The Australian was a true pioneer of the live sound reinforcement industry. He started out as a co-founder of Jands Concert Production with Phil Storey (Jackson and Storey) in the late ‘60s, which continues to this day to be one of the biggest names in Australia’s entertainment technology industry. Having met Roy Clair in 1970 he developed a mutually beneficial relationship with Clair Brothers Audio and as a result relocated to the US, where he mixed monitor sound for Elvis Presley until the singer’s death in 1977. The big names just kept coming – he worked for many years with Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand and his other mixing credits include Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Jackson Five, Barry White, Ozzy Osbourne, Johnnie Cash and Lou Reed. In more recent times, he was the opening and closing ceremonies audio director for the Olympic Games in Sydney and Canada.

His skills as an A-grade live sound engineer were balanced by his enthusiasm in electronics – he clearly was not content to stay behind a mixing console. Among his many achievements, he built a revolutionary live mixing console which was used for a number of years by Clair Brothers and he was also involved with the launch of Fairlight’s ground-breaking audio sampler. He went onto found Apogee Electronics, before joining David McGrath at Lake Technology, where they worked with Clair Brothers to develop what became the Lake Contour DSP sound system controller. Following the acquisition of Lake, he then went onto work for Dolby as their director of live sound, where he was actively involved in the launches of the Dolby lake processor and Lab.gruppen’s PLM amplifiers.

Mr Jackson may have been one of the most prominent figures in the evolution of live sound over the past half century, but he was also one of the most generous, humblest and quietest of men in the profession. A statement from Jands read: ‘It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Bruce Jackson, one of the two founders of Jands. Bruce will be sorely missed by his many friends around the world, and by those of us at Jands who knew him from the early days, or who got to know him more recently through his involvement with the Sydney Olympics and other major events. Our heartfelt condolences to Bruce’s family and to all who knew him, worked with him and appreciated his immense contribution to the audio industry.’

Sydney Opera House has offered its facilities to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Bruce Jackson for a public memorial that will take place on 25 February in the iconic Concert Hall. Mr Jackson had worked closely with Opera House technical director David Claringbold during the 2009 audio system upgrade at the Concert Hall.

A long time flying enthusiast, Mr Jackson owned the 1978 Mooney Model M20J single-engine plane in Culver City, CA, and was alone aboard the aircraft when it crashed. Respected and appreciated by all who knew him, the untimely passing of Bruce Jackson is a hugely sad moment for the pro audio industry.