New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "Around the music community of New York, his home since 1999, he's known as Jack Spann. In St. Louis, many more will remember him as Jon Rosen, a Webster University grad who gigged in all kinds of band-and-solo contexts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In both places, he's known as a keyboardist of unusual range and skill, able to play on pretty much any project offered.
His talents have landed him a variety of gigs over the years, but he wasn't able to discuss one of them until recently. Even now, he's contractually (and, to some degree, ethically) unable to tell the entire story of a three-days-and-change gig in 2014.
The short version: Spann played with
David Bowie during the run-up to the rock legend's final album, the magnificent Blackstar.
"A mutual friend introduced me to Tony Visconti, maybe April or May of 2014," Spann says, citing Bowie's frequent producer and arranger. "He'd gone to my site, I guess, and then called me one day, out of the blue." 'We need a piano player who can play jazz, can play rock, but not jazz-rock. We don't want Chick Corea.' He and Bowie had been listening to a lot of Stan Kenton, the white Thelonious Monk. I called him back and went into the studio the next morning."
There, Spann recalls, "This guy walked up to me at 9:55 a.m. 'Hello, Jack, I'm David. We're going to have a great time.' 'Oh, hi David.' Really, it's hard to describe how nice he was to me. He was really, really genuinely interested in how and what I was playing. Overall, he was just a delight to work with." -
Thomas Crone - STLMag.com
Meeting
David Bowie and working on song demos for Blackstar led Jack Spann to working with producer Gary Tanin (Sam Llanas, Daryl Stuermer,
Roger Powell) and the making of Jack's first full length studio album "Time, Time, Time, Time, Time."
"... I treasure it more with every spin." "...Charming melodies and clever wordplay propel these songs that are simultaneously laced with cynicism and joy" Michael Popke - Sea of Tranquilty
"... hands moving forward and backward along the keyboard, timeless, a crazed hourglass. ...An ingenious blend of talent, humor and earnest creativity." Lino Terlati - Savona, Italy
Jack Span's' Time, Time, Time, Time, Time will be available April 19th (digital) April 22nd (physical) on Big Boo Music.
