Jack The Dog

Jack the Dog is an experimental music duo founded in 1994 in Chicago, Illinois by Carrie Biolo (percussion/composer) and Jeffrey Kowalkowski (piano/composer). Biolo and Kowalkowski have been creating music together for over 2 decades. The two met in college at DePaul University when Kowalkowski needed a percussionist for a premiere at the Green Mill. Becoming instant contemporaries, Kowalkowski started composing numerous percussion works specifically for Biolo to perform. Over time, Kowalkowski began performing, Biolo started composing and Jack the Dog was formed. Gradually, the traditional composer-performer relationship blurred and the process of composition and performance became collaborative.

The duo has performed its own collaboratively-composed music in a variety of venues including concert halls, festivals, galleries, and clubs. It has toured Germany twice (1996 and 1998) and has been featured at the Cleveland International Performance Art Festival, In the Eye of the Ear Festival in Chicago, Guest Artists Concert Series at Pittsburgh State University, Landmarks II Festival in Germany, Rhinoceros Theatre Festival and endless others. Jack the Dog has worked with artists from a number of disciplines, including composer/performer Pauline Oliveros, Australian suspension artist Stelarc, and the Chicago-based theater company Curious Theater Branch.