Pack Plays His Way Into Jazz Hall of Fame
The prestigious Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame has had fewer than one hundred inductees since it was established in 1992. On June 17, while surrounded by fellow musicians and supporters at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas, Lester “Les” David Pack, Jr., a guitarist and professor of music at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, became one of those inductees.
Pack, who was recognized in the category of jazz guitar performance, is also a member of the Four States Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame. He teaches music theory and jazz guitar, among other courses, at UAM, where he has taught for 20 years. During this year’s inaugural UAM Jazz Week, he was honored during the UAM Jazz One concert for 40 years in music education.
Pack is a Pine Bluff native and hails from a musical family. His mother, Paula, was a choir director and piano major. “I was raised around music, so when I grew up, I knew this was what I was going to do,” Pack said. His father, David, signed him up for guitar lessons one summer when he was 10 or 11. David was a microbiologist by trade and also a jazz guitarist whose best friend in high school was Jim Ed Brown. They played at the famous Trio Club in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, which Brown’s parents owned. Elvis Presley often visited the club while he was a truck driver in the 1950s, providing David with the opportunity to perform with Presley on numerous occasions.
Pack also has had the opportunity to play with a long list of prominent musicians including Jon Faddis, Clark Terry, Marvin Hamlisch, Sam Rivers, Charo and Doc Severinsen.
You don’t have to spend more than a few minutes with Pack to understand his love for teaching music.
“I’ve been teaching for 40 years. If I retired, I wouldn’t know what to do,” Pack said. “I was waiting for my July classes to start because I was bored being on summer break during June. I had such a great class during the two-week master’s capstone residency in July that I hated to see the students go. One of the students came from Tokyo, Japan. He flew in to take this master’s class. One of the students this time was from Seattle. We get people from all over the country and the world coming to UAM for our Master of Music in Jazz Studies.”
And for Pack’s students, the feeling of appreciation is mutual. On July 14, Vapors Live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, themed its monthly Jazz Jam around Pack, and many of his former students joined him on stage for a special performance to celebrate him. “It was so much fun. There were about 25 of my former students there. I didn’t hardly have to play. They played all night.”
Dr. Justin Anders, UAM chair and associate professor of music, congratulated Pack for his accomplishments, stating, “While it is impossible to list all of Mr. Pack's many accomplishments, watching him teach is always a joy. I have unique insight because, like many others, I was once a student of his. I can attest that he has the innate ability to explain difficult concepts in the most basic language possible. After 40 years, I don't think he can imagine his impact on countless students.”
As for his new place in the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame? “Huge honor,” Pack said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I never thought I would be in it, and it wasn’t even in my view. It’s probably the biggest honor in my life, to tell you the truth.”