Photo courtesy of Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill (2026)
Jack and Jill (2026)
Jack Grassel was a musician who never stopped working or learning—until he was forced to put life and music on hold. He suffered a stroke in January 2025 that triggered cancellations and almost the end of his creative life. Known since the ‘70s as one of Milwaukee’s top guitarists, Grassel was faced with the prospect of being unable to ever play again.
“When I finally recovered, I stared at my music stands for a long time, thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’ I needed to start over,” and with a new repertoire, Grassel says. But that wasn’t all. “Music was always in my head. The problem was getting my technique back. I had to start at the beginning, reading exercises to get my hands coordinated.”
Jack Grassel and his longtime partner in life and music, Jill Jensen, are back with a performance for Villa Terrace’s Sopra Mare series. This will be their first time on stage since Grassel’s stroke, except for a performance last summer for the residents of Chai Point senior community. As Grassel was mending his skills, Jensen faced her own health problems.
“I was told I had major blockages in my heart and would need bypass surgery,” she says. Then, cardiologists discovered that Jensen has collated arteries, a condition where the heart attaches itself to spare arteries. “So my heart creates its own bypass surgery,” she explains. “I’m not supposed to do all sorts of stuff that’s stressful.”
Towering Figure
Grassel was a towering figure in Milwaukee jazz for his role in venturesome bands such as Matrix and What on Earth, as well as a series of solo albums. He also taught guitar and took just about any gig any time, from weddings to guest spots with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Since 1998 after marrying Jensen, a star of local musical theater, they have worked together in a new format with her as vocalist. He became an entertainer, and together they performed at the Packinghouse and other area venues along with 20 consecutive winters at a Mexican island resort. “We had to please an international crowd,” Jensen recalls. “And be perkier.”
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Grassel has an answer for any disappointed jazz devotee. “Look at the history of jazz,” he says. “Miles Davis recorded ‘Someday My Prince Will Come,’ a pop song from a movie.” Among songs chosen for their Villa Terrace performance are Donald Fagan’s “Walk Between the Raindrops,” Mose Allison’s “Ever Since the World Ended I Don't Go Out as Much,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”
Grassel has worked on singing during his recovery from stroke and will trade vocals with Jensen. He will play chromatic harmonica, a mini-keyboard and an instrument of his own device, a triple-necked electric mandolin, bass and guitar. “It was complicated to build but worth it,” Grassel declares. “I got tired of taking a bunch of instruments to gigs and going back and forth from one to the other.” With a harmonica on a rack, the triple-neck on a strap and a mini-keyboard at arm’s reach, he’s an easily portable one-man band.
What can old fans expect? “It’s really been two years since we’ve appeared together. We’re older. We’ve changed and we’re hopefully still interesting. We are what we are now, and it’s going to be different,” Jensen says.
Jack Grassel and Jill Jensen will perform 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16 at Villa Terrace, 2022 N. Terrace Ave. Admission is free.
