John Charles "Jack" Chesterfield was born in West Wyoming, PA, and eventually moved to the Canton, Ohio area, where he met and married his wife Lisa, fathered his only son Jimmy, and honed his musical craft, creating a legacy that will last forever. For those of us who knew him, it's strange thinking he would have been 50 years old this year, but not surprising, because Jack was always like an old soul. His music is ageless and timeless because that's the way Jack was: a true original who never bothered to worry about being contemporary or "in style".
Jack's musical career spanned decades. From his early days as a percussion major in college, he began working on original ideas, attempting to break new ground whenever possible. Eventually, Jack's drive to write songs coupled with his intuitive percussive instinct led him to choose the acoustic guitar as his main axe - his chosen tool of the trade. Although he was accomplished on many instruments, the acoustic guitar became his anchor; as much a part of him as his arms or legs. Original compositions like "Sailing Nowhere" show off Jack's unique acoustic style.
After several years of writing songs and putting bands together to perform them, Jack finally struck upon a great idea in 1992. He decided to invite all the musicians he knew in the Canton area to play on his debut album, titled "The S Game". He carefully chose the players he felt would best compliment his pieces. "The S Game" was an ambitious debut. It featured great uptempo songs like "Soul In Hand" and "Important Things", as well as gorgeous ballads like "Always" and "The Song I Hear". There were exotic-sounding pieces like "Desert Nights", and novelty songs like "Jingles", an hysterical mini "opera" about Jack's experiences with the commercial jingle industry. For "The S Game", Jack offered the most powerful lyric of his career in the song "Love Is Everything".
"The S Game" was a genuine regional success story, garnering great reviews from the Northeast Ohio musical press, including a glowing tribute in Scene Magazine from Cleveland Radio guru Bill Hall. With the attention Jack was getting after the release of his debut album, he needed to form another band quickly to promote the album with live performances. Some of the musicians asked to be in Jack's live band played on the album. Two who did not would become important collaborators for Jack on future projects. "The Jack Chesterfield Band" was initially comprised of Lisa Chesterfield on keyboards & vocals, Beth Barnes on flute & vocals, Keven Scarpino on bass guitar, Lou Novy on lead guitar, Vince Scarpitti on drums & vocals, with Jack singing lead and providing his trademark acoustic guitar.
This version of Jack's band had barely begun playing live shows to promote "The S Game" when Jack announced he had written enough songs for the NEXT album, which was eventually titled "Six Peace", a play on words recognizing Jack's new "six piece" band. The album was credited to "The Jack Chesterfield Band" and produced by Jack & Vince, who had found such mutual respect for each other while working together that they became almost constant collaborators. "Six Peace" featured such Chesterfield classics as "Wondrous Love" and "Undiscovered Country". Truly in the "band" spirit, Jack made sure everyone was featured, so Beth Barnes takes a lead vocal turn with "I'm Your Only One" while Lisa sings the bluesy "Don't Even Think About It". Keven and Lou contribute an original called "Girl You Say" which is sung by Keven. Finally, Vince sings "Bridges", and duets with Jack on the gorgeous "Outside In The Rain". The album closes with a subtle reprise of "Love Is Everything", recorded live in the studio and featuring blistering lead guitar work from Lou. "Six Peace" is a very special album - a moment in time that will never be repeated.
After a few live shows to promote the release of "Six Peace", Keven and Lou decided to depart to work on other projects. Jaime Blattman, who had worked with Jack in previous years, returned on bass guitar. Jaime had also appeared on "The S Game", so he was eager to return to familiar territory with Jack's original music. Tim Tucker became the new lead guitarist, adding elements of jazz, fusion, and classical to the already esoteric Chesterfield sound. With this new lineup the JCB recorded "Big Bang", and ambitious concept album featuring great tracks like "Nice Guys", "Angel", and "I'm A Farmer Now". On "Big Bang", the JCB saw the debut of Jimmy Chesterfield, who played drums on "Nice Guys" when he was only a young teenager. Jimmy would go on in later years to become a fulltime member of the JCB, as well as a remarkable solo performer, singer, songwriter, and multi-talented musician. Another addition to the JCB during the recording of "Big Bang" was a remarkable singer named Dave Shanower, who added a much-needed high male voice the Chesterfield harmony structure. Dave was to become an important member of the band, contributing not only vocals, but musical and lyrical ideas on future recordings.
Shortly after the completion of "Big Bang" this version of the JCB also recorded the single "Canton, Ohio", written by Vince for the Stark County Convention & Visitors Bureau, and dedicated to his family. The "Canton" single was released shortly after "Big Bang" and attracted a lot of attention regionally.
After "Canton", Vince took a break from playing and recording with the JCB due to a hectic schedule, and Jimmy took the drum seat in the band full time. The band played more gigs during this era than ever before, becoming tight and professional. Still, Jack wanted to continute to record. Once again, he called Vince to see if he'd be interested in collaborating again in the studio. Vince agreed - he missed the band and missed working with Jack in the studio. After several months of recording, the final Jack Chesterfield band appeared as the 20th century was coming to a close. Appropriately titled "The Long Road Home", it features some of the best-written Chesterfield songs ever, with a great deal of care and attention put into the production of the album, including the arranging and the musicianship of guest performers like cello virtuoso Natalie Spehar, violinist Jeff Snauffer, and keyboardists Dave Torma and Tim Shilling. "Long Road" features classic after classic, like "I Love It That You're Here", "Kiss Me Before I Go", "The Anchor", and "Love May Come Your Way".
In typical Chesterfield Band fashion, live performances began to promote "The Long Road Home". Jack, however, could not sit still. Fueled by being back in the studio swing with Vince, the two set about assembling musicians for a summer release, which would eventually be called "Summer...Better Than Others". Although everyone from the band played on the album, there enough special guests brought in to call it "Jack Chesterfield & Friends", just as he'd done with "The S Game". "Summer" features great songs like "Rage", "The Birthday Song", a Tim Tucker classic written for his Dad called "Honest To John", featuring "Big Pat" Masalko on harmonica, and Jack's swansong, "I Believe In You".
Shortly after the "Summer" period, the JCB went on hiatus, while Jack & Jimmy began performing as a duo. Jack & Vince decided to collaborate on another album project together, but weren't quite sure if they wanted it to be a "band album" or not. Jimmy expressed an interest in participating, so "Chesterfield/Scarpitti/Chesterfield" was born. The album was titled "Seven & The Sleeping Rose", and would be the final recording project of Jack Chesterfield's short life, although he did have several pieces prepared for what would have been his NEXT album, had he lived to record it. ""Seven...", still unreleased, features only 4 pieces, longer compositions played primarily by Jack, Vince, and Jimmy (although several guests are featured as well). Jack and Vince were putting the finishing touches on the "Seven.." album on Thursday August 28, 2003. They were to get together again Tuesday 9/2 to begin mixing the album with Jimmy. That day never came
Jack passed away Monday September 1st, 2003, leaving behind a wonderful family, many friends & musical cohorts, and a wealth of music for future generations to discover. He was never signed to a major label, nor did he get rich doing what he loved. Jack lived for music, pure and simple. He may be gone physically, but the music he lived so passionately for allows his spirit to live among us forever.