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Photos, biographies and notes for concert programs 8 pages are available. The first page has a press release with a black and white photo. The other pages have photo quality 300 dpi color images. The pages of Jack alone are 8.5" x 11". The pages that include Jill are 5" x 7". They are all in the form of a pdf file. Click on the image to download one of these pages. You will also need Acrobat Reader from Adobe© to read these files once you have downloaded them. If you do not have this program you can download it free from Adobe by clicking on the icon below.
Program / biographical notes: ____________________________________________________________________________________ Jill Jensen and Jack Grassel (use this bio for duo concerts) Jill Jensen and Jack Grassel sizzle on stage! The married duo have been impressing audiences since 1998. Jill's expressive voice sparkles with Jack's graceful guitar as they perform jazz flavored music that speaks in an easily understood and enjoyable dialect. This couple is a sure-fire crowd pleaser offering an exciting blend of originals, standards, Latin, ballads, swing, bebop, and R&B. In a nation wide poll, the readers of Guitar One Magazine voted Jack one of the "Ten Best Guitarists in the U.S." This year, Mr. Grassel received his seventh "Guitarist of the Year" WAMI award from his peers. Jack was also chosen as "Best Jazz Artist" in the "Best of Milwaukee" poll conducted by Milwaukee's Shepherd newspaper. 2007 also saw the world-wide release of Jack's instructional DVD, "Top 20 Jazz Guitar Lessons" by publishing giant The Hal Leonard Corporation. Guitarists everywhere have studied Jack's many instruction books, and CDs for decades. Jill's sultry voice won her the honor of "Favorite Female Vocalist" in The Journal Times Reader's Poll two years in a row. Together, Jill and Jack garnered three 2007 WAMI Award nominations, including Best CD -" It's About The Music", Best Song - "Song For Your Mother", and "Best Traditional Jazz Artists". Just Jazz Guitar Magazine wrote: "Jensen's voice is strong and self-assured...Grassel's overall skill and musical approach are the perfect compliment to Jensen's smooth and confident vocal styling and phrasing." Jill and Jack are in demand as a duo or small ensemble as well as for their Big Band, when Jack conducts music custom arranged for them by Walt Stuart, noted arranger for Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin. See the web sites for additional information, current schedule, and merchandise. Visit: www.jilljensen.com Visit: www.jackgrassel.com ___________________________________________________________________________________ Jack Grassel The combination of Jack's "perfect pitch and Virgo birth date" resulted in an unusually intense interest in music from the cradle. His career began when his father started him on music lessons at age three. By age four, he was performing professionally on local television and with "The Bar O Ranch" live variety show. He won first place in the Wisconsin State music contest at age ten, the first of many awards. In the March 2000 issue of Guitar One magazine, fans voted him as one of the "10 Best Guitarists in America...". In 2007 and 2009, the Shepherd newspaper readers voted Jack, Milwaukee's "Best Jazz Artist". This winner of seven W.A.M.I. awards as Jazz Artist and Guitarist Of The Year maintains a busy schedule and has logged over 12,000 performances. Among his favorites are: duets with Luciano Pavarotti, concerts with Melvin Rhyne, Nancy Wilson, Tal Farlow and other name artists too numerous to mention. Jack enjoyed years of personal tutelage by his mentors, Jimmy Wyble, Billy Bauer, Tal Farlow and George Van Eps, which helped father his unique style. For decades, guitarists the world over have studied Mr. Grassel's 11 books, and DVD, "The Top 20 Jazz Guitar Lessons". His popular Big Ax book trilogy, a system for playing bass lines, melody and chords simultaneously, has changed the way the world's guitarists approach solo performance. Guitar Player and Just Jazz Guitar magazines have featured his educational columns since 1983. Most of Mr. Grassel's 70 surviving jazz compositions are recorded on his 17 CDs. (He feels that if a composition is not original and doesn't stand up to repeated listenings, it must be destroyed.) His composition, Thunder Stones was the television theme music of Black Nouveau for 3 years. His commercial compositions for Mirro Pressure Cookers, and The M & I Bank were regulars on radio. A vocal composition, "Song For Your Mother", received a s W.A.M.I. nomination in 2007 as "Song Of The Year". Mr. Grassel can be heard playing guitar and bass simultaneously, with vocalist Jill Jensen, every Sunday at the Carleton Grange Jazz Brunch and every Thursday at Brocach. (On his web page, you can hear a recording of Jack, (urged on by his dad), playing a concert at age 3 for the relatives on November 25, 1951.) To learn more about Jack and his work at www.jackgrassel.com _____________________________________________________________________________________ Jill Jensen Jill's first sentence was "Where's the Music?". Since then, Ms. Jensen became well known for delighting audiences as a highly expressive vocalist, actress, voice talent and television spokesperson with a smile in her delivery. A fan once described her voice as"Victoria's Secret for the ears." Rick Tvedt of Rick's Cafe wrote: "Jensen's voice is clear, strong, confident and rich in tone...she is a rare vocal talent...playful, and has clearly learned to express herself from a joyful center." The Shepherd's Dave Luhrssen wrote: "Jensen's voice sparkles for the sheer delight of singing...she wraps around words and their emotional implications. Whether in her duo, combo or big band, she's a sure-fire crowd pleaser. Jill won the honor of "Favorite Female Vocalist" in the Journal Times Reader's poll two years in a row. Her three CD's, Seems Like Dreams, It's About The Music, and Live At The Carleton Grange Pub have garnered rave reviews. She received three W.A.M.I. nominations in 2007: Best CD ("It's About The Music"), Best Song ("Song For Your Mother") and Best Traditional Jazz Artist. Vocal studies include the Jazz Summit Voice Major at the National Guitar Workshop in Connecticut and The Lakeshore Conservatory of Music in Racine, WI. She has performed with Ed Thigpen, Howard Levy, Ernie Adams, Dane Richeson, Paul Wertico, Chip McNeil, Marlene Rosenberg and most notably since 1998 when she teamed up with (and eventually married!) jazz guitarist , Jack Grassel. To learn more about Jill and her work, visit www.jilljensen.com _____________________________________________________________________________________
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