Born in Memphis and starting his career in 1974, Russell Jackson moved to Chicago in 1976 and gained his blues "stripes" working with Otis Clay, Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, Lucky Peterson, Charlie Musselwhite and Willie Nelson plus more. He also recorded and toured with such greats as Luther Tucker, Matt Murphy, Kenny Neal and Katie Webster.

From 1979-1986 Russell toured exclusively with B.B. King recording five live albums. During this period he was the first to put slap bass onto a live blues recording (Live At Ole Miss/1979).

In 1990 he relocated to Vancouver, BC (Canada), joining the Powder Blues Band and recording with Long John Baldry (It Still Ain't Easy) and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne on his Juno award winning CD and continues to record and perform with Kenny Wayne to date.

The birth of the Russell Jackson Band came in 1992 where he released three CD's of his own material. From 1994-97 he was a regular opening act for the Kansas City Blues Society at the infamous Grand Emporium for acts such as Son Seals, Five Blind Boys of Alabama, The Holmes Brothers, etc. 2003 to present Russell is the Musical Director for The New Generations of the Blues European tours formerly named The Chicago Blues Festival.

Recently relocating back to Austin, Texas after living in Canada for 22 years, Russell is regaining his reputation on the stand-up bass. Russell had replaced Jerry Jemmott in OLB (Orginal Legends of The Blues), and has now joined forces with the newly created B.B. King Blues Band that debuted at the 2016 New Orleans Jazz Festival with many special guests. They also performed on the television recording Austin City Limits 2016 Hall of Fame as the host band airing December 31, 2016 on PBS.