Jack Rose, giuitarist extraordinaire and warm soul has passed on.

December 5, 2009 5:24 PM

Jack Rose, guitarist extraordinaire and warm soul has passed on. From the Arthur Magazine site : I spoke with Jay this morning and the sad news is circulating that guitarist Jack Rose has passed on to the next realm. It’s with a heavy heart that I say this, but thoughts and prayers are with family and loved ones. He had fans around the world and everyone should know about Jack and his music. His style is like no other.J
posted by Liquidwolf (32 comments total)

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His style was actually not like no other's, but he was very, very good, and quite young as well.
posted by kenko at 5:34 PM on December 5, 2009

Ah, nuts.

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posted by adamdschneider at 5:37 PM on December 5, 2009

Fine use of open tuning, fingerpicking, and he obviously had a good melodic sense. His playing is a little reminiscent of Leo Kottke, except without the 12-string guitar it's a little more spare, and he goes for blue notes more than Kottke. It's very listenable, and a shame about his passing.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:42 PM on December 5, 2009

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ah SHIT, that is just remarkably unfair.

I saw him play live twice and he was a fantastic player and a very nice guy. He opened for 60s raga folkie Peter Walker on a West Coast tour in '06 and it was the most incredible evening of acoustic music I've ever seen. I have footage of this set, memail me if you'd like a download link.

This totally sucks.
posted by porn in the woods at 6:01 PM on December 5, 2009

That's a shame, a real shame. Very sad.

Aside from the Leo Kottke comparison AZ made above, I'd add John Fahey to the list of kindred spirits, and of course a host of predecessors like Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson and others.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:02 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by klapaucius at 6:03 PM on December 5, 2009

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What awful news. He was a damn good guitarist; I really regret not going to see him play live while I had the chance.
posted by ubersturm at 6:05 PM on December 5, 2009

Terrible news...
posted by frankbooth at 6:08 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by extrabox at 6:08 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by gcbv at 6:14 PM on December 5, 2009

Apparent heart attack at age 38, leaving behind a wife.

I'm starting to cry now.

(I'm 38, too. Jack liked his cigarettes and beer, as did I before I cleaned up my act this year)
posted by porn in the woods at 6:17 PM on December 5, 2009

what a way to find a new hero
posted by mhjb at 6:36 PM on December 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

oh no
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:39 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:39 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by LionIndex at 6:52 PM on December 5, 2009

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I loved Pelt, and I happily chanced upon a copy of Raag Manifestoes last year. Such, such an amazing album.
posted by heurtebise at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2009

Dude was the first acoustic fingerpicker I fell in love with. From a completely random download of Kensington Blues when I was 15, honestly, years of my musical life sprouted.

Rest well, Jack. You're missed, but that's alright.
Have a good one.
posted by Rumpled at 7:21 PM on December 5, 2009

I got this news by email earlier this evening, and it's really sad. I really likes his guitar soli stuff, anyone who follows Fahey where Rose followed him, and as well, is pretty alright in my book. I was most intrigued by his long pieces where he rubbed a bottle neck across his strings for a long time until the harmonics started the tones rising. When I first heard it on an album, I Do Play Rock and Roll on Three Lobed, I didn't love it. But I saw him in concert about a year and a half ago, and he "played" it at the end of his set, and it worked really well. It was meditative and kind of limned the other sets that night, from mv&ee and Tom Carter. Jack Rose's set, which moved from finger picking to the acoustic tonal drone of scratched strings, really encapsulated so much sonic history that it was great. (I'm not trying to be a douche with the language here, I'm really just struggling with words. I'm not sure what Rose called the string rubbing thing he did, but between the two parts of his set he seemed to hold a whole host of bands that might otherwise not be held by much. It was a big reach.)
posted by OmieWise at 8:01 PM on December 5, 2009

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posted by trip and a half at 8:36 PM on December 5, 2009

Jack Rose article at Wikipedia.
posted by Daddy-O at 8:44 PM on December 5, 2009

...he rubbed a bottle neck across his strings for a long time until the harmonics started the tones rising... I saw him in concert about a year and a half ago, and he "played" it at the end of his set, and it worked really well.

No need for the quotation marks around the word playing there, OmieWise. Rose was most certainly playing the guitar in that instance, every bit as much as when he played in the traditional way all the rest of the time.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:46 PM on December 5, 2009

Damn. I was just listening to The Black Dirt Sessions earlier today. :(
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 10:21 PM on December 5, 2009

I've always tended to be kind of backhanded towards Rose for his considerable indebtedness to Fahey, but he was very, very talented, and this is a significant loss. I regret that I never got to see him perform.
posted by anazgnos at 11:47 PM on December 5, 2009

Raag Manifestos is a spectacular record, so very worth having in your collection.

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posted by Mikey-San at 4:43 AM on December 6, 2009

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Aw. Thanks for the music, Jack.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:40 AM on December 6, 2009

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thanks, thanks muchly, Mr. Rose
and sad, so sad, not to see where you might have gone...
posted by jammy at 2:02 PM on December 6, 2009

"His playing is a little reminiscent of Leo Kottke"

Um, no.
posted by bardic at 5:45 PM on December 6, 2009

There are some really wonderful tributes to Mr. Rose getting posted in the comments in the Arthur article. Check out these kind words from James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice) and Elisa Ambrogio from Magik Markers.

Rest in peace, big fella. 38 is just too young for a heart attack. Such a loss.
posted by porn in the woods at 5:33 AM on December 7, 2009

SHIT

He was just here in St. Louis a couple months ago and I completely forgot to see him and thought, ah well, I'll catch him some other time. He was really brilliant.

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posted by saul wright at 12:48 PM on December 7, 2009

"one for jack" from Byron Coley
posted by porn in the woods at 5:15 PM on December 8, 2009

Here is Thurston Moore talking about some of his favorite guitarists, including Jack.

Also, FYI, there are several Jack Rose live tapes over at dimeadozen.
posted by OmieWise at 4:23 PM on December 9, 2009

A bunch of folks have set up a Jack Rose tribute site at Dr. Ragtime.com.
posted by OmieWise at 3:49 AM on December 15, 2009