Meet Jake Hanlon:
Performer, composer and educator, Jake Hanlon currently resides in Antigonish Nova Scotia, a Professor of Music at Saint Francis Xavier University.

A native of Nova Scotia Canada, Hanlon has had the opportunity to work some of the brightest and talented students and teachers in the world. In 2003 he graduated with Honors from Saint Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies. In 2007 he was hired as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas. The Fellowship Duties included instruction of private lessons, Performance Fundamentals and direction of the UNT L5 and Super 400 Guitar Ensembles, the L5 ensemble being one of the foremost College Guitar Ensembles in the World.

Instrument(s):
Guitar.

Teachers and/or influences?
Teachers:
Fred Hamilton, Lynn Seaton Lynn Seaton
b.1957
bass , Stefan Karlsson, Paul Tynan, Tom Daniels, Gene Smith.

Influences:
Jim Hall Jim Hall
b.1930
guitar , John Abercrombie John Abercrombie
b.1944
guitar , Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter
b.1933
saxophone , Kenny Wheeler Kenny Wheeler
b.1930
trumpet , Joe Henderson Joe Henderson
1937 - 2001
sax, tenor , Chris Potter Chris Potter
b.1971
reeds , Dave Holland Dave Holland
b.1946
bass , Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett
b.1945
piano , Oscar Peterson Oscar Peterson
1925 - 2007
piano , Freddie Green Freddie Green
1911 - 1987
guitar, acoustic , Grant Green Grant Green
1935 - 1979
guitar , Wes Montgomery Wes Montgomery
1925 - 1968
guitar , Pat Metheny Pat Metheny
b.1954
guitar , John Scofield John Scofield
b.1951
guitar .

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...
I discovered my need to be a musician at the age of 20. Prior to that I was a musician, someone who played but did not understand how important it was to me until I returned to music full time.

Your sound and approach to music:
Music is about emotion and communication. When I play I need to feel something. Aside from the technical aspects of jazz, the emotional aspect of it is what connects me to it the most. It could be the fun of playing with a superior player or the dread of a big performance. The passion of a well played ballad, the energy of a burning composition. It sustains me and makes me feel more alive.

Your teaching approach:
To give the students a strong basis in the fundamentals of the music so that he or she can proceed to begin playing as quickly as possible with other people. Playing the music is the best way to learn it and from there the student can continue private study to guide them in how to fix what they cannot fix themselves.

Your dream band:
John Taylor John Taylor
b.1942
piano on piano, Dave Holland Dave Holland
b.1946
bass on bass, Peter Erskine Peter Erskine
b.1954
drums on drums. That rhythm section on Widow in the Window (ECM) is far to hip for me to know how to deal with it.

Road story: Your best or worst experience:
I remember a gig I took out in Texas at an amateur airplane club. I was told it was 50 bucks a man plus free food, lots of food as it was a Texas style BBQ. I was hungry and a student so I took it. The gig day came around and I was told that the drummer would be the wife of the organizer's 13 year old son who "liked jazz" and owned one album, a Miles Davis CD of compiled music.

It was brutal.

Favorite venue:
I have no favorite venue.

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?
My debut CD is out soon, I must say that one.

The first Jazz album I bought was:
First jazz album I fell in love with was Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet ' Kind of Blue.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?
That question for me is impossible to answer since I still am finding my voice.

Get back to me in 20 years maybe.

Did you know...
I was a pretty decent classical bass trombonist!

CDs you are listening to now:
Jonathan Kreisberg Jonathan Kreisberg
b.1972
guitar , Night Songs (Criss Cross);
Jesse van Ruller Jesse van Ruller
b.1972
guitar , Circles (Criss Cross)
Kenny Wheeler Kenny Wheeler
b.1930
trumpet , What Now? (Cam Jazz);
Kenny Wheeler, Angel Song (ECM);
Pat Metheny, Day Trip (Nonesuch).

Desert Island picks:
Miles Davis, Miles Smiles;
Sonny Rollins Sonny Rollins
b.1930
saxophone , Saxophone Colossus;
John Coltrane John Coltrane
1926 - 1967
saxophone , A Love Supreme;
Joe Henderson Joe Henderson
1937 - 2001
sax, tenor , So Near, So Far;
Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder
b.1950
keyboard , Songs in The Key Of Life;
Pat Metheny, Bright Size Life;
Wes Montgomery Wes Montgomery
1925 - 1968
guitar , Smokin' At the Half Note;
John Scofield, Works for Me;
Jim Hall, These Rooms;
Pat Martino Pat Martino
b.1944
guitar , We'll Be Together Again;
Kenny Wheeler, Widow in The Window;
John Abercrombie John Abercrombie
b.1944
guitar , Third Quartet;
Tom Harrell Tom Harrell
b.1946
trumpet , Sail Away;
Kurt Rosenwinkel Kurt Rosenwinkel
b.1970
guitar , The Remedy.

How would you describe the state of jazz today?
I would describe it as underground counterculture.

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?
My faith is that jazz will always be there, yet popularity will always be low. We live in a society driven by instant gratification and financial worries and not about culture and the humanities. Perhaps some day we will return there, but by then other things will have evolved to take over the roll jazz played at it's height of popularity.

comments powered by Disqus