After graduating from high school in Cincinnati, Mr. Jasper settled in New York, where he studied music composition at the Juilliard School. Enticed by the opportunity to study with the noted jazz pianist and composer Billy Taylor, he transferred to the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University in Brookville, N.Y., where he received a bachelor’s degree in music.
Mr. Jasper, along with Ernie and Marvin, eventually began backing the Isley Brothers on records and in performance. “The better we got, the more they wanted us to play with them,” Mr. Jasper said.
After they joined officially, success came quickly. The expanded group’s album “3 + 3 ” (1973) rose to No. 8 on the Billboard chart, powered by “That Lady,” a sultry funk-rock update of the Isleys’ 1964 single “Who’s That Lady,” which hit No. 6.
During this golden era, the Isley Brothers became a touring juggernaut, with acts like Teddy Pendergrass, the Gap Band and the Brothers Johnson serving as opening acts. The Isley group continued to chart into the 1980s, but financial tensions between the older and younger members began to mount.
In 1984, the onetime Jazzmen Trio members peeled off to form their own trio, Isley Jasper Isley, which topped the R&B chart in 1985 with the shimmering “Caravan of Love,” a contemporary spiritual of sorts written by the group that called for togetherness and pride. A year later, a cover by the band the Housemartins reached No. 1 in Britain.
Embarking on a solo career, Mr. Jasper scored a hit in 1987 with “Superbad,” which despite its filthy, Stevie Wonderesque funk riffs was a wholesome call to the power of strong community values and education. While he never again scaled the heights he had reached with the Isley Brothers, he remained prolific, churning out solo albums for decades while also producing artists like the R&B singer Liz Hogue for his own label, Gold City. He released his final album, “It Started With a Kiss,” in 2023.
