'ramblin' rex' jakabosky

Rex Jakabosky went to school at the Antelope Valley Junior High School, where he met, a.o., Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart (Jakabosky was one year younger than Zappa). During this period Zappa was in the Black Outs, and Jakabosky sat in with the Black Outs a couple of times when their piano player couldn't make the gig. Somewhere around 1957.

Jakobosky quit high school in his senior year and went to work with his father, framing houses. Around 1961, Jakabosky and Zappa ran into each other in a music store in Ontario, and re-established contact. Jakabosky started playing with the bands that Zappa was in (the Black Outs, the Soots, ... changing names often) during 1961 and 1962.

He also was part of the people that Frank Zappa recorded with at studio Z in Cucamonga.

Picture on the right, taken from the Ramblin Rex website:  http://ramblinrex.wz.cz
 

Black Page magazine issues 50 and 51 (1995) feature a 16-page interview with Rex Jakabosky and "Cucamonga", Belgian radio show on Radio 1, featured an interview with Rex Jakabosky somewhere in the nineties.

 

discography

  ramblin rex: all at once
    (1987, k7, ??, ??)
  ramblin rex: got to give
    (1990, k7, ??, ??)
  ramblin rex: built for comfort
    (????, cd, ??, ??)
  the ramblin rex band: nasty boogie woogie
    (????, cd, ??, ??)
  the ramblin rex band: gospel
    (????, cd, ??, ??)
  lubos andrst blues band & ramblin rex: blues time
    (????, cd, ??, ??)

 

 

random notes

Dwight Bement says:

Ronnie Williams's band, the 'Blackouts', included Frank Zappa (guitar), Joe Perino (piano), Al Sarratt (drums) and possibly, a large guitarist / blues singer / harmonica player by the name of 'Restless' Rex Jakabosky, (I wonder where he is, he was wonderful). I was in that band in 1961 and 1962. During that time, we were ocassionally joined by Jim Sherwood and others to play up in Lancaster at the Community Center.

From the Ramblin Rex website:

Once I was at school just swifting my fingers on a piano when some boy appeared beside me. He listened for a while and than said that he liked the way I played. That`s how I met with my older schoolmate Frank Zappa. We were good friends. I used to visit Frank in his apartment, we would drink coffee, smoke cigarettes and listen to the blues. He was always a personality. We played together in the school band and later for about another three years in different bands. His musical journey was than different from mine, even though he could never deny his blues roots / irony, sense of humor, skepticism etc. I stayed with the classical blues untill today. I saw Frank for the last time in 1989 when we met over a cup of coffee and spoke about the old times.

November 2003, Harry adds:

Ramblin Rex is in Corvallis Oregon USA. Been here and gone manytimes, spent a number of years in the Czech Republic. He is a street musician, most recently, a decade or so heavily dedicated to his religon. He IS with out any question, an incredible artist. I have known him some 25-30 years. He sporadically records, and even less often appears in small venues as a one man band or with some outstanding back up musicians of local residence.
He is also friends with Gary Rowles,a long time local, yes, son of Jimmy Rowles. Rowles has a recording studio here.

 


frank zappa  / musicians timeline

 a 

 b 

 c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m 
 n   o   p   q   r   s   t   u   v   w   x   y   z
soundtracks various artists