Not many memorial services have a set list.
Friends, family, fans and fellow musicians gathered at Renegade in Clarendon yesterday (Thursday) said it was exactly the way John “Jay” Jenc would have wanted to be remembered — a gathering that blended rock music, community gathering and good food.
For decades, Jenc and the band Jumpin’ Jupiter were a fixture of the regional rock ‘n’ roll scene. Jenc died at 60 on Aug. 16.
“He was bonafide, true rock ‘n’ roll,” said a musician who identified himself as T-Bone. “[He played] the type of music that brought us all together in the first place. It’s true American rock ‘n’ roll.”
The band consisted of Jenc on vocals, Patrick Cavanaugh on guitar, Doug Hoekstra on drums, Mike Bolton and Louie Newmyer on bass.
Many at the ceremony said Jenc had an unmistakable stage presence.
“Jay was the show,” said Lugnut, “and he cooked amazing gumbo.”
“He was larger than life. He was the life of the party,” said Lynda Cokinos. “He had this style and the craziness to him that stood out. I can’t imagine Jumpin’ Jupiter without him. It was like walking into a movie. It was this man performing his a– off for 20 people. Never mind that, he was also an excellent chef.”
Praise for Jenc’s cooking was as ubiquitous as comments about his rockabilly style. In addition to being the front man of Jumpin’ Jupiter, Jenc was also the chef at the now-closed local music scene the IOTA Club.
“He was huge at IOTA,” said Chris Harbaugh, who hosts for Forbidden Alliance show on Takoma Radio. “At the end of a set he’d pop his head out, and he was cooking so he was still wearing an apron, and he’d come over to the front row and listen.”
Longtime bandmate Patrick Cavanaugh said it was Jenc’s cooking that eventually convinced Cavanaugh to play for him:
I knew him for 33 or 34 years.
Jay was always asking me to play with him and I thought he was a ham. I was like ‘why would I want to play with you?’ Then he invited me to a barbeque, they said ‘we’re going to blacken a catfish and eat red beans and rice and drink some beer.’ Then when I got there, they had equipment set up. It was a trap, and that was that.
The first time I played with him was that day. It was a lot of energy. … He was a really good chef. I thought, ‘well this can’t be that bad, if I’m going to be in a band where they feed me.’
For a while, Cavanaugh lived with Jenc, which they said could get crowded, but the pair spent time writing music together.
The Renegade was a “who’s who” of D.C.’s rock scene members there to pay their respects to Jenc.
“He was the kind of guy who gave his all to anything,” said Mark Noone, singer for The Slickee Boys and The Yachtsmen. “A lot of us performers, a lot of s— we do on stage we do for ourselves. For him, it was both doing it for himself and for everyone else. He wanted to share everything he had with the audience.”
“He impressed me with his full tilt with his music,” said Silver Spring musician Moe Nelson. “No holds barred. He was reckless, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Rockabilly isn’t supposed to be safe. He didn’t treat it like a museum piece.”
Nelson said he saw Jenc a few months ago playing a gig at JV’s Restaurant in Falls Church. Despite the fact that Jenc was struggling with health complications, Nelson said he was still all smiles and positivity, and put on a great show.
Antoine Sanfuentes, former vice president and managing editor of CNN’s Washington Bureau, said he played in a band with Patrick Cavanaugh and his brother Jim, then filled in as a back-up drummer for Jumpin’ Jupiter.
“I was always excited about getting a phone call from Jay,” Sanfuentes said. “It was electric on stage. Jay was a showman. Jay was just electrifying in his performances — everything, from singing the great rockabilly songs like Elvis Presley. He even had a megaphone as part of his schtick. He’d sing through that, and that gives you a sense of how wonderful the show was.”
Sanfuentes said one of his best memories with Jenc was a side project they were both part of: a local supergroup called The Edwiges that played one gig at Comet Ping Pong:
The guitar player [Rob Duprey] played with Iggy Pop, and Jay was excited to play songs that not only had been recorded, but some were basement tapes. It was me, Scott McKnight on bass, Marcus Esposito on keyboards and Jay Jenc as the front man. We played one night at Comet Ping Pong.
The crowd was full of celebrities. We opened for Kid Congo of The Cramps. It was his birthday. Henry Rollins from Black Flag was there. Ian MacKaye from Fugazi was there. They were all taking in Jay and it was one of the most memorable nights I’ve ever had. Whenever we’d run into each other later, we’d say ‘remember that gig at Comet Ping Pong?’
In some ways, the memorial for Jenc was also a memorial for the IOTA Club, which closed in 2017.
“I called it the Institute Of Total Alcohol,” said Cavanaugh. “We drank and we rocked some of the greatest shows we ever did there. It was a hell-raising party.”
“IOTA Club shows were always down to Earth,” said Todd, an old friend of Jenc. “It was a good crowd with dedicated fans.”
Jenc grew up in Springfield and Todd was among a small group of the attendees at the memorial that had known Jenc all his life.
“I’ve known Jay since I was one year old,” Todd said. “Me and his brother were the same age, so he was like a big brother. He would always play in the basement. We used to take a string with song requests tied to one end and run that through the floorboard down into the basement, asking him to play 867-5309.”
April Muñiz was Jenc’s girlfriend in high school and remained connected with him throughout their lives.
“Jay was my first love,” said Muñiz. “He was the coolest cat in [West Springfield High School]. … He played the school dances and all that stuff.”
Muñiz said on one trip back from college Jenc cooked her ramen noodles out of a package but made it into a delicious meal. Muñiz said she knew in that moment that he should be a chef.
Being in Clarendon, just down the street from the IOTA Club, brought back a flood of memories.
“My young adulthood was Jay Jenc; I can’t separate those memories from him,” Muñiz said. “He was such a genuine, wholesome man. He cared down deep to his soul. He was a real stand-up guy.”
