CHICAGO — Popular educator Jack “Feedback” Alexander passed away on May 30, 2022. He was 73. Born in September, 1948, he had an interest in music and audio from a young age and attended the University of Illinois in Chicago, where he earned a B.A. degree with dual majors in TV and history.
Alexander was accepted into grad school at the University of Illinois, and worked on an M.A. Degree in history, but left the program to pursue his first love of sound reinforcement mixing, eventually engineering more than 5,000 live events from 1967 to the present, working for artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to The Sex Pistols, and from Miles Davis to the London Symphony. In addition to touring, he also had a love of mixing smaller shows in local clubs and venues in the Chicago area, as well as recording and mixing at top studios such as the Chicago Recording Company, where he worked from 1988 to 1993.
Over the years, one thing he particularly enjoyed was sharing his extensive knowledge and experiences to help novices get a foothold in the audio industry.
Alexander also put his people skills and substantial tech chops to work in 1998, when industry veteran Rob Hofkamp — previously the sales manager for the Tannoy/TGI group — set up Martin Audio NA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the parent company, with Jack Alexander as the company’s technical sales manager of its touring and commercial sound products.
During this time, Alexander continued his interest in helping others in the biz and in 1996, became a full-time and part-time professor, teaching audio production in the Theater/Music Department as well as Live & Installed Sound in the Department of Audio Arts & Acoustics at Columbia College Chicago — a position he held until 2021, while also contributing magazine articles on technical audio topics — all in his inimitable, no-nonsense — and occasionally brash — style that always told it like it is.
Jack Alexander will long be remembered by the hundreds — or thousands — of lives he touched over the years, offering inspiration along with a solid dose of fundamentals and practical, straightforward approach that reflected the real-world to his students. Rest well, old friend — you will not be forgotten.
At press time, no plans for a memorial service had been announced.
