Jackson is an ethnomusicologist whose work centers on jazz, rock, and recording technology. His theoretical interests include urban geography, race/culture and identity, ethnographic method, performance and aesthetics. He is author of Blowin' the Blues Away: Performance and Meaning on the New York Jazz Scene (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012) as well as articles on topics ranging from the intersection of jazz and poetic performance to the interpretation of meaning in rock. For a listing of selected publications see his faculty page.