This is very sad news. I will try to update this post as new info is released. I think he will be missed tremendously in the musical world. And of course the people in his life will miss Jack Rose the man, and they will miss him the most.
Though I haven't found an official 'news' article, it appears that Jack Rose has indeed died at the very young age of 38, today, Dec. 5th, 2009.
There are some credible sources verifying that it is true:
Three Lobed Records is reporting that it is true.
Glenn Jones on Yahoo! FaheyGuitarPlayers has this to say:
All too true, unfortunately. Jack Rose died Saturday morning. I only got the news a couple hours ago from Regina Greene — our booking person -- just can’t wrap my mind around it. I haven't been able to reach his wife Laurie, she must be inundated with phone calls, so there’s still a lot I don’t know.
Laurie talked to Regina and told her that Jack died suddenly of a heart attack (sometime Saturday morning or Friday night, I’m not sure) -- that it was fast, there was no pain. I don’t know if he died in his sleep, if they were at a hospital, in an ambulance or what.
Not that the details matter much. Words are so poor. That’s a huge hole in so many lives -- it’s too unreal. Not only a fantastic musician, but a great, great friend, big-hearted, funny, outrageous. We just had several shows together in Belgium two weeks ago, and were scheduled to play in Denver together next Friday. We just bought our plane tickets.
Touring with Jack was a blast — always. Can’t believe it won’t ever happen again.
He’d just finished an album for Thrill Jockey, which would have upped his ante in terms of exposure. (We have a duet on the album, “Moon is in the Gutter.”) There’s also a DVD, filmed in the studio, which is just about ready for release. We each do hour long solo sets and a couple duets, and there’s a very entertaining interview conducted by Byron Coley as well. Jack was in top form for the sessions, and plays beautifully.
An indescribable loss.
Glenn//.
I first saw this news on Work & Worry, but it is posted in many places, most seem to be referring to Arthur.com as the source.
Here is what I have found so far in no particular order:
http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/12/05/remembering-jack-rose/
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/Philadelphia_guitarist_extraordinaire_Jack_Rose_has_died.html
http://pitchfork.com/news/37302-rip-jack-rose/
http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/12/05/remembering-jack-rose/
http://cahlsjukejoint.blogspot.com/2009/12/jack-rose-dies.html
http://othersideoflife.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/jack-rose-r-i-p/
And some info sites for Rose:
http://www.thrilljockey.com/artists/index.html?id=12380
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rose_(guitarist)
There are a couple posts HERE on my blog with some of Jack's music.