BIO

Jack Gillen began his musical life at age 7, falling in love with classical guitar before discovering Jimi Hendrix at age 15. This discovery opened up pathways into blues, jazz, rock and soul music, and ushered in an obsession with the electric guitar. After studying Jazz for 3 years at Leeds College of Music between 2010-2013, Jack returned to his hometown of London, cutting his teeth as a session guitarist/ co-writer/ musical director/ producer, working with artists in many different musical settings. After years of adeptly playing the role of the musical chameleon, in 2018 he decided to dig deeper into his own identity as an artist and composer, the first evidence of this being his debut EP ‘The Long Way Down’. Fusing Jazz, Rock, Folk, Blues, and Classical influences into a distinctive style of his own, the EP featured melodically focused compositions, dark harmonic twists and turns, lots of dynamic improvisational interaction between musicians, and raw, stinging guitar tones. Gigging his own music with his trio, featuring Phil Donnelly and Darren Beckett (Aaron Parks, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Madeleine Peyroux) the approach deepened and the musical chemistry intensified - however, COVID lockdowns resulted in a hiatus from this project. Now back in a creative zone, Jack plans to release his debut album 'No Home But Here' in Autumn 2024.