JACK first heard Traditional Irish music back in 1975 when he connected a new thing called "Cable TV" up to his stereo (he didn't own a TV then). He turned the dial to KPFA broadcasting out of Berkeley and happened upon a show called "The Cat In The Corner" that was playing something by The Chieftians. Not even realizing it was Irish music, he was instantly swept away with it, and he promptly taped his dial where it was so as not to lose it. Needless to say, it worked, and he never lost his enthusiasm for it either.
Up until that time he had been a music major in college and was performing Medieval & Renaissance music in "The Woods So Wylde Consortium". He also played piano in his Latin Jazz band called "Incognito" and played a variety of Middle Eastern wind and percussion |
instruments as the music director for the "Chimera Dance Troupe" in Stockton California. To Jack the Traditional Irish music of "The Chieftains" sounded very similar to the Early music he was playing except it sounded like it was alive and kicking. He soon found out that the difference he heard was the fact that Traditional Irish music is a living musical art form. With that in mind, (and just the fact that the music was so great), in 1980 he gave up the Medieval & Renaissance music, turned in his turban, parted with his jazz band and turned his interests towards the Island in the North Atlantic.
Living in Stockton proved to be too far away from the music to properly learn how it's played, so Jack turned his life upside down, and moved to San Francisco in 1985. |
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As it happened the following year Noel Hill, Irelands foremost concertina player, showed up in San Francisco to play at "The Plough & Stars" pub. Jack organized concertina workshops for him and began taking lessons that occured about every 6 months when Noel came to "The Plough". Jack also had acquired a wooden concert flute and organized flute workshops for players that came through the city, the late great Frankie Kennedy among them. It soon became very clear that moving to San Francisco was a good move indeed.
After arriving in SF he joined a popular folk group called "Out Of The Rain", and from about 1989 to 1998 Jack, and fiddler Scott Renfort, were the hosts of the sunday night "Seisiun" at "The Plough" where he met musicians from all over the world. |
From 1985 until the present Jack has taught concertina & flute workshops at The Lark In The Morning summer music camp in Mendocino California, and now he's a part of two other Traditional Irish music groups in San Francisco that both include Junji Shirota. One is an instrumental band called TipsyHouse, and the other, Crónán, features the beautiful voice of Rebecca Marculescu. Jack still hosts Seisiuns with Junji Shirota at "The Plough" on the odd Sunday or Tuesday night, and can be found playing around the Bay Area. (Check the Gigs & Tours page for details.) He also makes frequent trips to Ireland to meet musicians, visit with friends, play in Seisiuns, and collect tunes. |
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