John Joseph Kelson Jr. (February 27, 1922 – April 28, 2012), known professionally as Jackie Kelso, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist.
At fifteen, Jefferson High School classmate Chico Hamilton urged him to take up the alto saxophone, and he made his professional debut with Jerome Myart that same year.
[2] By the time he graduated from Jefferson, he was playing with Hamilton, Buddy Collette, and Charles Mingus at clubs on Central Avenue.
[3] In the 1950s he also performed with Johnny Otis, Billy Vaughan, Nelson Riddle, Bill Berry, Ray Anthony, the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, Bob Crosby, C.L.
He joined Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps in 1958 and was featured on several fine recordings from that period, including Say Mama, She She Little Sheila and Ac-centu-ate the Positive.