Good music never dies: 1990s American rockers Jack’s Maze resurface with ‘Let It Go,’ teasing second album
A look in the rearview mirror propels the North-East US rockers back to the future with new dreams & new tunes.
Some bands disappear. Others simply take a very long time to get back to where they started. More than three decades after first emerging from New Jersey’s rock scene, Jack’s Maze are back with new music. The band, originally formed in Hightstown in 1989 as Laughing Jack, spent the early 1990s building a reputation around the New York tri-state area before an unreleased debut album and the inevitable complications of life brought the story to an early stop. Now reunited and firmly back at work, Jack’s Maze presents “Let It Go”, the first single from their coming second album, Once In A Blue Moon, due in January 2027 through Pennsylvania independent label RPM Entertainment.
“Let It Go” finds Jack’s Maze leaning into the melodic side of classic American rock. The song has the kind of broad, carefully shaped arrangement associated with bands such as Kansas and Styx, while Frank Cinquegrana’s vocal gives it a warmer, more conversational quality that recalls the emotional directness of Van Morrison. Rather than chasing sheer volume or instrumental excess, the track takes its time with the melody, allowing the keyboards, guitars and rhythm section to build a sense of movement around the song. It has the feel of music made by players who grew up with album-oriented rock and still believe a song can take its time getting somewhere.
The origins of “Let It Go” go back much further than its release date suggests. Cinquegrana, the band’s lead vocalist and lyricist, first worked out the basic musical idea around 15 years ago. He returned to it periodically, holding onto the central melodic phrase until the remaining lyrics and music finally came together in recent years. The subject is close to the experience of anyone who has ever relied on music as a refuge: the song considers the way music can pull us out of ourselves, provide perspective and offer a temporary escape from whatever is happening around us.
That idea has particular resonance for Cinquegrana, who describes music as a near-constant presence in his life. Melodies can be running through his head while he is working, eating, talking with people or simply going about his day. It can be exhilarating, but it can also become impossible to switch off. That contradiction sits underneath “Let It Go,” giving a fairly straightforward title a more complicated meaning. Music-making can open the door, but sometimes it is the thing that refuses to let you leave.
The story of Jack’s Maze began in 1989, when the band was still known as Laughing Jack. Based in Hightstown, the musicians became part of the wider New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania circuit during a period when original rock bands were still finding audiences in clubs throughout the region. The lineup brought together Cinquegrana with Robin Ross on keyboards and guitar, Scott Cowan on rhythm guitar, Joe Torres on bass, Joe Granowski on drums and Bill Snyder on lead guitar. Ross also played a major role as composer and musical architect.
Their musical interests were wide-ranging. Progressive rock was an obvious part of the picture, but so were the large arrangements and strong melodies of classic rock. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush and early Genesis were among the band’s formative influences, with Mozart representing a very different but equally important source of inspiration. Listening to Jack’s Maze now, the appeal of that combination is easier to hear: they were interested in musicianship, but never at the expense of the song.
The band’s first major recording project was completed in 1993. Titled Lost in the Maze, the album should have been the next step for a group that had spent years developing its material and playing throughout the region. Instead, it was shelved, and Jack’s Maze eventually went their separate ways. The recordings remained largely unheard for years, becoming a time capsule of a band that had never quite received the opportunity to see what its music could become.
That changed in 2022, when the musicians reunited and began revisiting the material. Lost in the Maze was eventually released nearly three decades after it had been completed, giving listeners the chance to hear the album at last. “Big Machines” became one of the standout tracks from that release, offering a good example of the scale and ambition that had been present in the band’s early work.
There was inevitably some sadness attached to the reunion. Snyder died in 2021, before he could witness the release of music he had helped create. His guitar playing remains part of Lost in the Maze, however, and his role in the band’s original sound has not been forgotten as Jack’s Maze moves into its next phase.
What might have been a one-off reunion instead developed into something more substantial. Cinquegrana and Ross began writing and recording again, eventually assembling the material that would become Once In A Blue Moon. The new album carries forward the band’s interest in expansive rock songwriting, but it also benefits from the perspective that comes with several decades of musical experience. The goal isn’t to recreate an early-’90s record; it’s to continue the work with the musicians they have become.
Ross has spent much of that intervening period building an extensive life in music. In addition to performing and songwriting, he has released numerous albums and worked as a producer and recording engineer, developing studios including Triple R Studios and Sound Complex in the New York area. His current base is Baa Baa Leaf Music in Milford, Pennsylvania, a recording and creative facility where he produced, recorded and mixed Once In A Blue Moon. Mastering engineer Jonathan Duckett, whose credits include Philip Glass, Kenny G and David Sanborn, also worked on the project.
That combination of history and new perspective is part of what makes “Let It Go” an interesting introduction to the next Jack’s Maze record. The song doesn’t sound as though it is trying to convince anyone that the band has been frozen in time since the early 1990s. Instead, it has the comfortable familiarity of classic rock while leaving room for the musicians to stretch out and let the arrangement develop. The melodies are given room to breathe, the instrumentation supports rather than overwhelms the vocal, and there is an underlying warmth that gives the track a distinctly human quality.
For a band whose first album spent almost 30 years waiting for its moment, Jack’s Maze now finds itself in an unusual position. The musicians have finally put their original work into the world, but they aren’t stopping there. “Let It Go” is the first indication of a new album created by a band that has had considerably more time to live with its influences, its memories and its unfinished ideas.
“Let It Go” arrives September 22 on digital services including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and Bandcamp. Life In The Maze is also available through Bandcamp on CD and as a digital download, while Once In A Blue Moon is scheduled for release in January 2027. After an unusually long trip back to the starting point, Jack’s Maze are once again making records — and this time, there is no unfinished album sitting on the shelf waiting for its chance.
Jack’s Maze on the Net
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More music from Robin Ross
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