April, 2008
A Gift!
A classical guitar composition written by my Dad, Robert Jacob, before he passed away in 2005 has now been recorded and released by classical guitarist Gerard Cousins and is also the title of the album. http://gerardcousins.com/ This is such fantastic news, we all miss him so much and it is an honor to have such a talented musician bringing his work to life for it to touch and inspire a much wider audience. A Gift is the last piece Dad was working on before he died and it is completely beautiful, unfortunately he never got around to giving it a name so it was called 'The Gift' by my auntie - Bev Lillywhite. > We saw Gerard playing the piece at Dillington Guitar Festival in the summer of 2005 and were so touched at how stunning the performance was, it was truly moving. Dad had played the festival in previous years and the concert that year 'Windows of the World' was dedicated to his memory. I found the following handout written by the Artistic Director of the Dillington Guitar Festival - Peter Rueffer. 'It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of my friend and colleague Robert Jacob. A multi talented musician, Robert was to have participated in tonights concert, his fourth visit to the Dillington Guitar Festival. His first instrument was the electric guitar but he was also an accomplished performer in the classical style and a composer with an impressive list of commissions to his name. It was during our first Dillington collaboration, and while planning "Sketches of Spain" concert in 2000 that I really got to know the kind of musician Robert was and the full extent of his abilities. The two pieces he had written and arranged for the concert had been inspired by our mutual interest in the music of Miles Davis and both had a percussion part. "Who's going to play the drums?" I asked. "I can do that" he replied and the success of this first venture led to Robert becoming a percussionist in several future collaborations. His innovative approach to composition will be remembered by all who attended Dillingtons Guitar Summer School in 2003 when Roberts piece "For Guitars and Electric Motors" was part of the ensemble programme. His ingenuity was perhaps never more apparent than in his work "Aquamass". This piece, which was featured in a Granada television documentary, was inspired by water and based on Psalm 130. It was performed at the Pool in the Park, Woking, Roberts home town, and involved musicians, singers, underwater performers and even underwater members of the audience. Tonights concert includes a performance of the last music he wrote. Entitled "The Gift", this piece for solo guitar was completed in April 2005. Robert had an interest of music of all kinds and his broad experience as a performer ranged from playing in Blues and Soul bands of the 70's & 80's such as the Alligators and Noit Otni to being a regular in the jazz circuit in more recent years. His latest band, the Naked Sunday Collective had just finished a national tour and were due to appear at the Glastonbury Festival. I had discussed tonights programme with Robert and know that he loved the songs of Burt Bacharach. On behalf of my collegues and all who knew Robert at Dillington, I would like to dedicate this concert "Windows of the World" to his memory.