Doug Jackson is
one of the Corridor’s most celebrated stage performers, and is also
one of KCCK’s most popular program hosts. His “Smooth Brunch”
has been a Saturday morning staple of Iowa’s Jazz Station since
June 2004.
Doug was born in
Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in East St. Louis. He says he doesn’t
remember a time when music wasn’t part of his home. “Dad was a
blues fan. Momma was the jazz fan, and singers like Dinah Washington,
Brook Benton and Sarah Vaughn. They’d have fish fries and card
parties, and there would always be a stack of LPs on the album
changer.”
Doug’s mother
claims music calmed him even as a baby. “There was a radio next to
my crib, and she’d put me down with a bottle, turn on the radio,
and never hear another peep out of me.”
After college at
Southern Illinois University, Doug moved to Cedar Rapids to take a
job with Rockwell Collins. He had performed all through school, and
soon after settling in, got involved with the Cedar Rapids Community
Theatre (Now Theatre Cedar Rapids) and The Follies.
Through the
years, Doug created such memorable characters that he was asked to
reprise his performances time and again. He has portrayed Jim in “Big
River” and Audrey II in “Little Shop of Horrors” three times
each. His role as Hoke in “Driving Miss Daisy” won him Theatre
Cedar Rapids’ Volunteer of the Year award. TV audiences remember
his many performances as “The Right Reverend Douglas Q. Jackson”
on Liars Theatre. And 2014 marked his 22nd Follies
show.
Doug’s radio
career began when he hosted a volunteer show on Cedar Rapids
community station, KOJC, which left the air in 1992. He created
several elements that live on in today’s Smooth Brunch during those
years. His KOJC show included a Gospel Hour, just like the Smooth
Brunch, and mixed smooth jazz, R&B and Urban Contemporary sounds,
also like his KCCK program.
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| Doug and Craig Boche at KCCK's "Night With The Rat Pack" |
In 2004, Doug
approached his good friend and fellow Follies performer, KCCK station
manager Dennis Green, and asked if there might be a slot on KCCK for
him.
“We jumped at
the chance,” says Dennis. “Not only was Doug a celebrity, whose
many friends and fans would tune in for his show, but I remembered
from his time at KOJC that he had a great knack for show
construction, stirring up smooth jazz, Motown oldies and Urban tunes
to create a very appealing mix.”
“I also respect
Doug’s dedication to KCCK,” Dennis continues. “Doug works
full-time at GE Capitol, and does three or four stage shows a year.
But no matter how busy he is, or how late rehearsal or a performance
went Friday night, he’s in his chair with a smile, bright and early
each Saturday morning.”
Making Doug’s
dedication even more amazing is that he juggles work, family,
performing and a KCCK show while also battling prostate cancer.
“I was
diagnosed in 2008,” he says. “The first round of chemo and
radiation was pretty tough. Hair fell out, everything tasted like
metal. The usual.”
Doug has
responded well to subsequent treatment, although he is still on a
chemo regimen, and reports that his situation is “stable.”
Doug lives in
Cedar Rapids with his wife Janice and daughter Anisha, who attends
Washington High School.
As far as the
future goes, Doug intends to continue performing, and says he’ll
never give up The Smooth Brunch. “With my initials,” he says with
his trademark, gap-toothed grin, “what else would I be besides a DJ?”
WATCH: Doug Jackson singing his signature song, "Wonderful World."
