August 16 Jack and JIll in concert in the courtyard at Villa Terrace art museum 112:30 -2:30 pm 2220 N Terrace av. Milwaukee, WI. 53202 In case of rain, the concert will be inside. Free parking on the street.
november 29 2-6pm jACK PLAYS a SOLO concert at The Jazz Gallery 926 East Center Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
He has recovered from a stroke that struck him two years ago. He has returned as a musician with exceptional power and imagination. He will present a solo concert of improvisations on favorite JAZZ, blues and pop tunes celebrating his 75th year as a professional musician. He will sing and play the triple neck, keyboard and chromatic harmonica and share some gig stories.
"Few jazz voice and guitar duos in music history are on the level of Jack Grassel and Jill Jensen. They give a no-holds-barred, entertaining, jazz and blues performance using familiar pop tunes to display their impressive improvising skills and telepathic interplay. The music is honest, aggressive and filled with creative surprises. Jack has refined his abilities to play melody, harmony and bass lines simultaneously on many instruments. Jill sounds consistently beautiful while gliding through tricky melodies and complex chord changes with ease. The result is a very big sound from two people." (reviewer Scott Yanow)
Mike Mueller of Guitar One Magazine included Jack in the March 2000 issue: readers voted Jack "One of the 10 Best Guitarists in the United States (You probably Don't know)." When James Brown's drummer Clyde Stubblefield. and Wes Montgomery's organist Mel Rhyne and Buddy Montgomery moved to Wisconsin, Jack played many concerts and bar gigs with them and saxophone virtuoso Berkeley Fudge for decades. He also played with Louis Bellson, and many other name artists: Tom Jones, duetswith Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone, Trini Lopez Nancy Wilson, Bobby Vinton Marvin Hamlisch, Bob Hope, Anna MARIA Alberghetti and many Broadway musicals on tour. Jack studied with innovative and influential jazz legends: Tal Farlow, Jimmy Wyble, George Van Eps, George Pritchett, and Billy Bauer. He studied improvisation with bassist Dave Holland, guitarist Lloyd Garber, saxophonist Joe Daley and composition with Ted Ashford. Jack played The Disney Pixar Show on 6 instruments, The Lawrence Welk Show. The Barnum and Bailey Circus Band. The Milwaukee and fox valley Symphony Orchestras. Percy Faith, Roy McCurdy, Fabio Armaroli, and McCOY TYNER. Mel Rhyne told Jack "music is everything you do".
Jack and Jill present many theme programs for a variety of audiences accepting gigs in Illinois, Wisconsin and minnesota. With his triple neck and custom effects rack, Jack demonstrates with modern music how Les Paul made his world-changing recordings in the'50s.
Jack uses D'Addario strings 13 to 56, Moshay picks, and Peavy Microphones. Lincoln Music House in Milwaukee, Wsconsin supplies and repairs our music equipment. Pinkalla auto solutions in Racine keeps the Jazzmobile on the road. From Hannah Pickett Dean of Liberal Arts at M.A.T.C. " If you knew for sure you had one more year to live, what would you do?" Buddy Montgomery told Jack as they walked on stage. " We play every song in all 12 keys."
