Christobal Jacques

Christobal Jacques

In Graduates, New York by jan_mfp

Christobal JacquesA teachers comment on a first grade report card read “ Chris is a fine little boy who loves to sing and dance but that’s all he wants to do” and not much has changed in the sixty-five plus years since that observation was made. None the less performing is not high on my list of favorite musical activities, I would describe myself as profoundly introverted and my relationship to music as that of a practitioner; not so much of technique but of music as a path to the self, a path to individuation and of musical improvisation as one of the high roads to that place.

As conceived of by David Darling, Bonnie Insull and their many partners developing skill in musical improvisation is akin to Jung’s exercises in “active imagination” with the added benefit of creating community. Being part of that community was and continues to be one of the most significant experiences of my own path.

Christobal Jacques is a bass guitarist. Christobal Graduated from the Hunter College School of Social Work where he majored in community organization and earned a masters degree. In 2012 after twenty-five years he retired from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Program where he held several leadership positions and was active in the establishment of needle exchange.