“Jack Rose” (Used 2 times)

To provide you with a small but satisfying taste of the incredible Jack Rose memorial held at ISSUE last month, the Black Twig Pickers have graciously shared some tunes from their joyously raucous set, which in many ways served as the centerpiece of the concert. The Twigs (Nathan Bowles, Mike Gangloff, Isak Howell) recorded with Jack on the eponymously-titled 2009 album (though Gangloff's and Rose's musical relationship goes way back to the early days of Pelt) and all four share the wondrous ability to effortlessly channel old-time prewar folk into a music eternally fresh, tangibly soulful, uniquely personal, and still wholly authentic to the long lineage of tradition. Furthermore, all share a deep musicality transcending any boundaries of style or genre; thus, it came as no surprise when Mike and Nathan joined Pelt + Tony Conrad for the final set of the evening and unleashed a blistering, monolithic wall of acoustic drone that absorbed and subsumed the kaleidoscope of emotions that preceded it. You’ll have to wait on that set, but really, there’s not nearly so much difference from Pelt and the Black Twig Pickers’ music as surface impressions might suggest. 

This Valentine’s Day evening, a handful of our world’s most soulful guitarists will gather at ISSUE Project Room to pay loving tribute to the great Jack Rose, who passed away in December at the much too young age of 38. The lineup, comprised of those friends whom he inspired and who inspired him, includes the Black Twig Pickers (the group featured on Jack’s most recent album), Pelt (with whom Jack played on and off again from ’95 until his death), Steve Gunn, Tom Carter, Marcia Bassett, Michael Chapman, and Glenn Jones.

I have compiled a mix from the ever-astounding well of riches that is the FMA, featuring musicians set to take part in Sunday’s celebration of Jack Rose’s incredible music. The mix traverses equal territory in the lands of drone and Takoma-style virtuosity, both worlds in which Jack established a voice of deeply-felt originality and undeniable importance.  The last work in the mix features Mr. Rose himself, performing live with Peter Walker -- a long-established member of a short lineage of finger-picking legends whose ranks Jack has undoubtedly joined.