Jackson grew up in
Harrow, London. His father worked as an
ATSEP at London
Heathrow Airport, then at
London Air Traffic Control Centre. His mother, originally from
Saint Ann's Bay,
Jamaica, was a magistrate and nursing education tutor. He attended
Harrow County School for Boys between 1970 and 1977, which he combined with studies as a Junior Exhibitioner at the
Royal Academy of Music. After a gap-year at the Academy, he then read music at
Downing College,
Cambridge where he served as organ scholar between 1978 and 1981. His teachers included Malcolm Hill,
Alan Harverson Jackson retired from this role at the end of August 2025, after 29 years of service. ==References==