Jerry Mack Band

About Jerry Mack Band

Hi I'm Jerry Mack. Currently residing in Western CT, I'm a BMI composer/piano/organ player/bassist born and raised in NYC. I grew up on Staten Island between Fresh Kills Landfill (the largest garbage dump on earth at the time) and the opposite horizon consisting of a giant coal burning power plant and 30 miles worth of oil, gasoline and natural gas refineries/storage. To this day I consider those industrial backdrops beautiful as anything on the planet. At an early age I studied piano with my father, Richard "Dick" Mack. He was a commercial session man in NYC for 50 years. His solo piano work featuring The American Songbook, is posted here as well. My mom was also an excellent pianist and she chose to raise her family in lieu of a career in music. When I was 7 Richard taught me scales and arpeggios as well as basic piano pieces. At 16 years old I began to play organ and piano in and around the NYC tri-state area. I later studied electric bass at Purchase College with Kermit Driscoll. I led all types of bands from Brazilian to Blues. I also worked as a piano tuner in the city.

I was fortunate to have worked with people of staggering artistry such as Bob Mintzer and Jerry Leiber, and Iconic sidemen such as Jim Pugh, Clifford Carter, Charles Blenzig, Santi Debriano, Gary Smulyan and Marc Stewart and countless others. Special mention goes out to Arlan Harris and Kevin Zambrana at Studio Z for helping pave the way into the NYC Latin Music world. Thank You All from the bottom of my heart.

In 2020 I began working with renowned musician/producer Hanan Rubinstein in his iconic Daxxit room in Ft Lee. Hanan is producing my current material, a fact for which I am struck-numb with appreciation. Thank You Hanan, I'm very grateful for all your incredible work!

By hearing this materiel, you literally complete the cycle of creating it. Why even bother if nobody is even into it right? I have new material in the works!

Here I have posted a few hybrid-Logic concoctions, as well as board mixes of live performances. There are also full-blown, mixed & mastered studio sessions.

My early influences include New York City area college FM radio stations playing Soul and Latin music from the 1960's and 70s very much a Boogaloo music era, also 77WABC AM during that same era.

Here I list individual artists who influence both my love of music and attempted endeavors therein. First and foremost, Kerry Minnear of the British Band Gentle Giant; Herbie Hancock; Don Grolnick; Elton John; Billy Joel; Tito Puente; Bobby Rodriguez (Tito's secret weapon); Chick Corea; Level 42; Clare Fischer; Carol King; Joni Mitchell; Charlie Palmieri; Eddie Palmieri; Miles Davis; Ian Anderson; Keith Emerson; Oscar Peterson; Jimmy Smith; Jimmy McGriff; Ray Shulman Gentle Giant Bassist; Chucho Valdés; Antonio Carlos Jobim; Don Van Vliet; James Brown; Frank Zappa; Donald Fagen; Joe Zawinul; The Association; Burt Bachrach; Thelonius Monk; Henry Mancini; Leon Russell; Billy Preston; Nelson Riddle; Chicago; Blood Sweat & Tears and lots more I will add as they come to mind.

My personnel listed in these recordings are as follows, please note that the following musicians appear on some pieces and not on others:

Richard Mack: Solo Piano
Charles Blenzig: Piano & Synthesizers
Clifford Carter: Piano
Karel Ruzicka: Saxes & Flutes
Bob Mintzer: Saxes & Reeds
Jim Pugh: Trombone
Gary Smulyan: Baritone Sax
Neal Spitzer: Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxes
Bob Milliken: Trumpet
Rolando Briceno: Flutes & Saxes
Hanan Rubinstein: Guitar, Bass, Mixing and Production
Andrey Krone: Organ Trio Live production and mix
Mark Stewart: Daxophone, Didgeridoo, Hung Drum, Mandolin, Cello and beyond!
Ralph Irizarry: Latin Percussion
Bobby Sanabria: Drums
Rosa Avila: Drums
Tommy Marcinek: Guitars, Mixing, Production & Engineering
Dan Kottman: Electric Guitar (Travis Dump Rock Band)
Dave Lewitt: Drums (Travis Dump Rock Band)
Gregg Sulzer: Drums
Gregory Jones: Bass
Santi Debriano: Upright Bass
Dana Scofidio: Guitar
Kat Raio: Vocals
Charles "Bubba" Bourne: Vocals (Travis Dump Rock Band)
Joey Ray: Background Vocals (Travis Dump Rock Band)
John Clacher: Executive Producer (Travis Dump Rock Band)
Hal Winer at BiCoastal Music: Recording and Production (Fortress of Feathers)
Jerry Mack: (With exception of The American Songbook, Frank Zappa and Lalo Shifrin) Compositions & Arrangements; Piano, Electric Piano, Synths, Hammond Organ and Fender Electric Bass. I like to throw in a weird sound-effect here and there such as an explosion or a dog barking.

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