Jack Mouse Group
Location: AMERICA NORTH: USA: Illinois (IL)
Genre: Jazz
Influences:
The Jack Mouse Group is poised to release Intimate Adversary, the latest of Jack’s recordings. Three Story Sandbox (2016, Tall Grass Records) featured free improvisations with Scott Robinson and Janice Borla, and was selected as a February 2016 "Editor's Pick" by DownBeat Magazine. Snakeheads & Ladybugs (2015, Tall Grass Records) offered freely improvised duets with multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. Range of Motion (2012, Origin Records) presented Jack’s original compositions and received extensive international radio airplay, including five weeks on the Jazz Week Top 50 Chart and nine weeks on the CMJ Top 40 Chart, and garnered many rave reviews. Jack can also be heard on an array of other albums, including some Janice Borla Group and Dan Haerle Trio recordings.
TRACK LIST: 1 Barney’s Fife - Yep, I’m a huge Andy Griffith Show Fan! 2 Old, New & Used Testaments - There were two African American churches in the town where I grew up. I used to sit outside and enjoy listening to their choir practices. 3 Intimate Adversary - I’ve heard that the great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals often referred to his instrument as his “most intimate adversary,” a concept that I believe resonates with many musicians. This is the first movement of a two-part suite. 4 Adamant Inversary - The second movement of the suite. (I know, there’s no such word as Inversary…but there ought to be.) 5 Nineteen sixty-five - The year I wrote this, my first tune. 6 Twas Never Thus - A ballad based on the harmonic changes of one of my favorite tunes, ‘The Thrill is Gone,’ with a few strategically placed key changes. 7 Jacomo - A nickname bestowed upon me by my old high school band director, the great Ormond Parker. A blues with a bridge. 8 Three Heads are Better Than One - A compositional technique with which I’ve been experimenting. I sent the band a rhythmic line and asked then to apply pitches of their choice over blues changes. We never know how this one is going to turn out. 9 Three Free - I always like to end recording projects with a free improvisation. Here, Scott and I invited Bob to join us.
ABOUT JACK MOUSE
Jazz drummer Jack Mouse began playing at the early age of four, and by his late teens was already performing with such musical greats as Tex Beneke, Ralph Flanagan, Buddy Morrow, "Peanuts" Hucko and Red Norvo. Upon graduating from college, he spent three years as featured soloist with the “Falconaires,“ the official jazz ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
He has since performed with such outstanding jazz artists as Stan Kenton, Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Joe Williams, Carl Fontana, James Moody, Randy Brecker, Billy Taylor, Tim Ries, Stefan Karlsson, Steve Erquiaga, Frank Wess, Kai Winding, Kenny Burrell, Jon Faddis, Bob Mintzer, Bill Evans (saxophone),? Murray McEachern, Sammy Nestico, Marc Johnson, Chuck Israels, James Williams, Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, Bill Stapleton, Matt Harris, Steve Rodby, Dianne Reeves, Sheila Jordan, Janice Borla, Jay Clayton, Karrin Allyson, Judy Niemack, Roseanna Vitro, Kitty Margolis, Madeline Eastman, Judi Silvano, Suzanne Pittson, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Rosana Eckert, Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, the Four Freshmen, Jay McShann, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Joshua Breakstone, Fareed Haque, Bobby Broom, Rufus Reid, Lou Marini, Mike Wofford, Holly Hoffman, Jack Reilly Trio, Bunky Green Quartet, Dan Haerle Trio, Buddy Childers, Claire Daly, Pete Malinverni, Phil Wilson, Matteson/Phillips Tuba Jazz Consort, Chicago Jazz Quintet, Johnny Smith, Roger Pemberton Big Band, Bobby Shew, Norris Turney, John LaPorta, Jerry Hahn, Chris Woods, Buster Cooper, Ashley Alexander, Frank Mantooth, Michael Mossman, Floyd Standifer, John McLean and Scott Robinson.
The Jack Mouse Group’s 2012 CD Range of Motion (Origin Records), featuring his original compositions, includes Art Davis (trumpet), Scott Robinson (saxophone), John McLean (guitar), Bob Bowman and Kelly Sill (bass). The album received extensive international radio airplay, including 5 weeks on the Jazz Week Top 50 Chart and 9 weeks on the CMJ Top 40 Chart, and garnered many rave reviews: “A sure-handed, high energy drummer who dazzles with brushes. A splendid album, well-written and quarterbacked by Mouse…Thumb up!” -- All About Jazz
Jack’s 2015 release Snakeheads & Ladybugs is a CD of freely improvised duets with multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. It was released on the Tall Grass Records label established by Jack and his wife, jazz vocalist Janice Borla. His 2016 release Three Story Sandbox (Tall Grass Records), a recording of free improvisations with Robinson and Borla, was selected as a February, 2016 "Editor's Pick" by DownBeat Magazine.
Currently Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at North Central College, Jack has also served on the faculties of the American Conservatory of Music, Benedictine University, Saskatchewan School of the Arts, Clark Terry Great Plains Jazz Camp, National Stage Band Camps, Jamey Aebersold Combo-Improvisation Camps, Birch Creek Music Performance Center, International Peace Gardens, Melville Jazz Retreat. As a member of the Bunky Green Quartet, he was among the first musicians to introduce jazz education to the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland. He has been a faculty artist member of the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp since its founding in 1989.
In 2012 Jack was the recipient of an Aquarian Award of Achievement, presented by Aquarian Drum Heads in acknowledgement of his contributions as a performer and jazz educator. In 2014 he was inducted into the Emporia High School Hall of Fame.
A longstanding member of the Janice Borla Group, Jack can be heard on Whatever We Imagine (P-Vine Records, Japan), Lunar Octave (DMP), Agents of Change and From Every Angle (Blujazz), named among DownBeat ‘s “Best CDs of 2007,” and Promises to Burn (Tall Grass), among DownBeat ‘s “Best CDs of 2014.” Also a member of the Dan Haerle Trio, he is heard on Truth of the Matter (Seagull Records), Standard Procedure (Blujazz), one of DownBeat’s “Best CDs of 2005,” and Aspiration (Seagull Records). Jack’s multi-faceted career has been the subject of recent interviews in Modern Drummer and Jazz Improv magazines. He has authored articles for Percussive Notes and the IAJE-Illinois Newsletter. In 2005 he was a featured artist during the first online Virtual Percussion Festival presented at the University of Manitoba by the ALIVE Project (Accessible Live Internet Video Education).
The Jack Mouse Group’s 2012 CD Range of Motion (Origin Records), featuring his original compositions, includes Art Davis (trumpet), Scott Robinson (saxophone), John McLean (guitar), Bob Bowman and Kelly Sill (bass). The album received extensive international radio airplay, including 5 weeks on the Jazz Week Top 50 Chart and 9 weeks on the CMJ Top 40 Chart, and garnered many rave reviews: “A sure-handed, high energy drummer who dazzles with brushes. A splendid album, well-written and quarterbacked by Mouse…Thumb up!” -- All About Jazz
He has since performed with such outstanding jazz artists as Stan Kenton, Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Joe Williams, Carl Fontana, James Moody, Randy Brecker, Billy Taylor, Tim Ries, Stefan Karlsson, Steve Erquiaga, Frank Wess, Kai Winding, Kenny Burrell, Jon Faddis, Bob Mintzer, Bill Evans (saxophone),? Murray McEachern, Sammy Nestico, Marc Johnson, Chuck Israels, James Williams, Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, Bill Stapleton, Matt Harris, Steve Rodby, Dianne Reeves, Sheila Jordan, Janice Borla, Jay Clayton, Karrin Allyson, Judy Niemack, Roseanna Vitro, Kitty Margolis, Madeline Eastman, Judi Silvano, Suzanne Pittson, Cathy Segal-Garcia, Rosana Eckert, Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, the Four Freshmen, Jay McShann, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Joshua Breakstone, Fareed Haque, Bobby Broom, Rufus Reid, Lou Marini, Mike Wofford, Holly Hoffman, Jack Reilly Trio, Bunky Green Quartet, Dan Haerle Trio, Buddy Childers, Claire Daly, Pete Malinverni, Phil Wilson, Matteson/Phillips Tuba Jazz Consort, Chicago Jazz Quintet, Johnny Smith, Roger Pemberton Big Band, Bobby Shew, Norris Turney, John LaPorta, Jerry Hahn, Chris Woods, Buster Cooper, Ashley Alexander, Frank Mantooth, Michael Mossman, Floyd Standifer, John McLean and Scott Robinson.
Jazz drummer Jack Mouse began playing at the early age of four, and by his late teens was already performing with such musical greats as Tex Beneke, Ralph Flanagan, Buddy Morrow, "Peanuts" Hucko and Red Norvo. Upon graduating from college, he spent three years as featured soloist with the “Falconaires,“ the official jazz ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Jack has presented clinics and workshops at jazz festivals, music conventions, colleges and high schools throughout the world, and presents clinics online through the ALIVE Project. He is a staff artist/clinician for Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Aquarian Drum Heads and Vic Firth Drum Sticks.
2014 brought the debut of the Tall Grass Records label established by Jack and his wife, jazz vocalist Janice Borla.