He enrolled at the Beau Soliel school of music at the age of 13 to study orchestra percussion, marimba and xylophone. Shortly thereafter he discovered his first guitar, which began an almost two decade love that resonates within his music today.

"When I was about 11 my cousin forgot an old nylon guitar behind after a visit from Joburg. I remember when I first picked it up it was completely out of tune, so I tuned it to what I thought sounded right. Little did I know that this tuning would follow me through to this day. (DADADD) Being completely self-taught has been fundimental in developing my personal playing style over the years. When I started to practice using traditional concert tuning, people would often tell me I'm doing it all wrong and holding chord shapes with the wrong fingers thus making life hard for myself. Never-the-less perseverance paid off and I guess that's how I got branded as the guy 'with the unique finger-style' technique."

Jack studied djembe under Malian djembe player Sidi Sangare ( www.drummingsa.co.za/sidi_sangare.htm ) while managing the Drum Cafe' in the mid nineties. Together they hosted the famous Wednesday night drum circles that ran for 3 years in the Cape Town CBD. During this time he met and discovered the digeridoo when Alan Dargin ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dargin ) toured to Cape Town.

"Barney Rattle from New World Music invited me to be a part of his Township Music record that he was producing from an old battery recharging shed in Khayalitsha. I remember the first day I arrived there. Alan blew my mind - what he could do with what was essentially a hollow stick was nothing short of supernatural. I was hooked! The following year I did a pilgrimage to Australia to find the 'didges' that tour with me to this day."

In 1998 Jack and Adam Lindberg ( son of Des and Dawn ) formed the 'Free Flight Coalition' a Rock / Hip-hop crossover act. Jack had spent most of the late 90's performing as a solo artist in and around Cape Town under the name 'Mantis'. After recording their first self titled album together on an old Fostex analog recorder, Free Flight started to take shape. Garvies on bass, Grey Black on drums and Cloud 9 joined Adam (aka Buddhadda) as fellow MC. In 2002 Adam and Jack broke away from Free Flight and formed, 'Stigmata' and recorded 'Urban Legends' in the fall of that year.

"The 'Hip-hop' years for me were a lot of fun. Playing the electric guitar and singing in F.F.Co and Stigmata are some of my favourite live memories. For some reason we made a name for ourselves really quickly. I remember the CULT was at our first gig at the Armchair, as a friend of ours was hosting them on their S.A. tour. It really gave us a boost to hang out with them after the gig, as their advice and praise helped give us the lift we needed. When Ad's and I Iater started Stigmata we had already established ourselves in the Hip-hop community, so breaking onto the scene was easy. As much fun as I was having in those early years, Hip-hop was never really my personal sound, and after it had run it's course I was more than ready to form JMB."

From 2006 till today, Jack and the band have carved their way into the hearts of the South African listener, while holding their own alongside S.A.'s greats. They have been hailed as one of the top live acts in the country, where Jack explores both the 6 and 12 string guitar, with a dash of ukelele, djembe and digeridoo.