Jack Walrath w. AppleJack Walroth

Jack Walrath, my former client, is a jazz trumpeter from Montana who went to Berklee and played with Mingus and lives in New York.

Applejack Walroth is a bluesman from Chicago who played with Boz Scaggs at the 2009 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

Jack Walrath also played with Willie Nelson in the 1990s which got my hopes up that he had snuck out to mean ol’ frisco for this hit.

he says he's the bass player on Maxwell st circa 1966

he says he’s the bass player on Maxwell st circa 1966

and1: Bob Devine on Delmark blog:
A guy named “Apple-Jack” Walroth showed me how to pack the rare records so that they wouldn’t shatter in shipping. I later learned that he was a musician, played blues guitar and was picking up the blues harp from some of the players around Chicago — Little Walter, Shaky Walter Horton (also known as “Mumbles” Horton who had earned the “Shaky” nickname on the basis of his head movement when he played), Jr. Wells and others. Apple Jack made a point of telling me not to take any advice from Charlie Musslewhite, known as “Memphis Charlie”, another harp player who was deemed by Koester to be an excellent blues man, but one of the dimmest and least reliable workers at the store

here is video of Charles Mingus group doing “Sue’s Changes” at Montreux, 1975:

he is sometimes also known as Jack Zappa:
from TapeOps:
As a songwriter, home recordist, and musician who gigs frequently, sometimes on stage I encounter the ugly and dreaded situation where the AC power paths will be such that when I am holding my instrument [harp mic or electric guitar], and also touching the PA mic as I sing, I get zapped by the way-too-familiar 110 volt electric shock. Yes, after the fact, I flip the amp ground switch when there is one, or reverse AC plug on the amp otherwise. And yes, some amps have a grounded 3 prong plug and some just have 2 prongs. All amps are not created equal and all circuits are not always properly grounded, by any means. We are not at liberty to rewire every faulty circuit we encounter in the universe. Any musician who plays out frequently under many different scenarios is almost certain to be zapped once in a while. But I don’t want to get shocked in the first place, and don’t always have the luxury or desire of using a cordless mic to avoid the problem.

edit to add, February 26, 2024: I am a Jew, sitting on the porch of the Santa Barbara mission, staring at one of those rusted El Camino Real bells, with the Pacific Ocean in the distance— thoughts are with Walroth, who timed out this week.

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About markweiss86

Mark Weiss, founder of Plastic Alto blog, is a concert promoter and artist manager in Palo Alto, as Earthwise Productions, with background as journalist, advertising copywriter, book store returns desk, college radio producer, city council and commissions candidate, high school basketball player, and blogger; he also sang in local choir, fronts an Allen Ginsberg tribute Beat Hotel Rm 32 Reads 'Howl' and owns a couple musical instruments he cannot play
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1 Response to Jack Walrath w. AppleJack Walroth

  1. Greg Walroth's avatar Greg Walroth says:

    Thank you for posting this article clarifying that there were two Jack W’s.

    Jack “Applejack” Walroth was my eldest brother. He passed away last Wednesday 2/21/2024 at his home in San Francisco. He was 78 years old and leaves behind his wife, 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren. Some of his associates over the years included Elvin Bishop, Sam Lay, Mike Bloomfield, and Boz Scaggs, not to mention numerous local musicians. His influence on my younger brother and I (both of us are still active musicians around Chicago’s South Suburbs) was enormous.The Blues are always central to what we compose and perform. “Apple” will not be forgotten by many who knew and performed with him. Thanks again for writing about him!

    Sincerely, Greg Walroth, age 69, drummer and percussionist, Lowell Indiana

    PS: I am also a Charles Mingus fan and heard Jack Walrath with him twice in the mid 1970’s. Great player.

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