Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1739
Maria S. Judge is writing a book about Jake Hanna.
Jake Hanna was a swingin’ jazz drummer who played and recorded extensively from the early 1950s through 2009 and was as well known for his comic timing as he was for his ability to keep great time. Maria’s blog is at http://jakehannablog.blogspot.com She says: This blog is dedicated to him and to the book I am currently writing about him. “Jake Hanna: The Rhythm and Wit of a Swinging Jazz Drummer,” which will be published in 2012
And the following comes from http://www.jakehanna.com/biography.html
Jake Hanna was born April 4, 1931 in Dorchester MA and began his musical career in the St. Brendan’s Drum and Bugle Corps when he was 8 years old. His drum teacher told his mother he had a natural talent and would go far, though it’s unlikely he could have imagined just how far. He studied the drummers who appeared with the great touring bands of the day when they played Boston’s vaudeville theatres and was well aware of the many talented players in Roxbury. He listened to all the records he could, especially those featuring Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, then the most celebrated drummers in jazz.
By the age of 13, he was developing a name for himself. Most bands had vacancies due to the wartime draft, and he kept busy with local groups and played throughout his years at Dorchester High School for Boys. During the late ’40s and early ’50s he played in bands led by Tommy Reed and Ted Weems. He played in the Air Force band during his entire tour of duty and in the evenings he and his fellow military musicians went into San Antonio clubs where he heard great music and learned a lot about how to play.
After his tour of duty he played his way back to Boston where he was the house drummer at Storyville for a number of years in the 1950s and 1960s when Buck Clayton, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Russell and Vic Dickenson were in the band, with Jimmy Rushing on vocals. He joined Toshiko Akiyoshi’s trio in Boston in 1957 after studying at the Berklee School of Music, and played summer engagements with her for four years at the Hickory House in New York before transferring to Marian McPartland’s trio at the same venue. To McPartland he was “a pleasure to watch; there is no wasted motion, yet he does everything with a flourish”.
He played with Maynard Ferguson (1958) and Woody Herman’s Orchestra (1962-64) and did extensive work as a studio musician both in and out of jazz, including ten years as the drummer for the Merv Griffin Show big band (1964-75). He recorded numerous albums for Concord Jazz, and his 1975 Grammy-nominated recording of Live at Concord, which he co-led with trombonist Carl Fontana, was the label’s biggest seller up to that point. Hanna, known for his wit as well as his music, referred to it as “Hanna and Fontana with McKenna on piana,” saluting the late Dave McKenna who had a legendary decade-long run at the Copley Plaza piano bar. He later played in Bing Crosby’s personal quartet that toured with him around the world.
Hanna was influential in getting Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton and Woody Herman to record for Concord. He chose the songs and the musicians for Clooney’s first Concord album, 1977’s Everything’s Coming up Rosie, which was instrumental in her comeback of the late 1970s. Hanna played at numerous jazz festivals and parties around the world, and toured and recorded with jazz singer Roberta Gambarini from 2007 to 2010.
Although highly skilled in all aspects of his work, Hanna was one of the most self-effacing drummers in jazz, happy to urge a band along with subtlety and discrete dynamics. Any band with which he played was guaranteed to swing and to have a good time because, apart from his superb musicianship, Hanna was also a witty and gifted raconteur.
He played on more than 250 recordings, from Toshiko Akiyoshi’s 1957Toshiko and Leon Sash at Newport to Roberta Gambarini’s So in Love, nominated for a 2010 Grammy as Best Jazz Vocal Album.
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