THE tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson was born in Carthage, Missouri in 1965 and grew up with jazz-loving parents in Denver, Colorado. His powerful hornplay found him playing with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (1987-90), Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard and Charlie Haden, but in recent years he has turned to more academic pursuits, and in 2013 he became chair of the Jackie McLean Jazz Institute at the University of Hartford.

He told me: “In 2020 I invited the celebrated civil rights activist and poet Nikki Giovanni to our institute. While here she listened to the Charlie Haden/Hank Jones album of hymns and spirituals, Steal Away. She loved it and later I mailed her a copy, asking her to pick 10 spirituals which would be my next recording project.”

“I'm inspired by Nikki’s activist life and poetry. Her work is an inspiration for the younger generation’s struggle for equity and inclusion for all our people. She gives renewed strength and energy going forward. I used Nikki’s poem A Simple Wish on the Wade in the Water track as a platform for my solo and its musical phrases.”