Jack Howard played trumpet with one of Australia’s great bands, Hunters & Collectors. He is the only trumpeter in the ARIA Hall Of Fame. In 2017, Jack toured the world with Midnight Oil as their multi-instrumentalist; and along the way, Jack has also performed with acts such as Rodriguez, The Violent Femmes, The Living End, You Am I, Tex Perkins, Kate Ceberano and many, many more.
Jack has also been releasing his own critically acclaimed records since 2001. In 2017, Jack released the brilliant electronica-inspired Lightheavyweight; and 2020 saw the release of his latest band CD, Dog Songs, and his musical memoirs, Small Moments Of Glory. He has been described as “one of the great quiet achievers of Australian music.” In 2023, Jack released his latest record Lightheavyweight 2; and toured with Hunters & Collectors on their Red Hot Summer Tour comeback tour. 2025 will see the release of new material.
Jack continues to play live with his fine band, Jack Howard & The Long Lost Brothers. He also has his Bacharach & Beyond and Epic Brass projects; and he’s just started up two new groups, The Faraway Three (with Alyce Platt and Nicky Del Rey) And Esencia (a Latin-inspired quartet). Jack retired from teaching at the end of 2024 and is just loving making music.
“I was first involved in Make Music Day in our unholy COVID year of 2020. It fell between Melbourne lockdowns and my school band, Wesley Jazz Ensemble, had an opportunity to record and film one of our original charts (https://youtu.be/jNi1G3MXLuE) For all of us, the sheer relief of getting back to the simple pleasure of making music with others was very powerful. And I think it encaptulated everything that Make Music Day stands for. The fundamental love and joy of making music away from all the big ambitions and dreams of the music business. Make Music Day provides and inspires that notion and reminds us all of why we stuck at this life in the first place”.
