Jacob Hobson

Since: 2013 | Position: Contributor | Location: New York City | Page Views: 12,416

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About Me

Jacob Hobson is a jazz enthusiast currently living in Knoxville,TN.

The first time I knew I loved jazz was reading Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. I hadn’t heard much jazz at that point, but I had experienced it. The way Kerouac described his musicians in smoky, downtrodden barrooms improvising and exerting the very essence of America through their instruments made such an impression on me that I listened to the first Lester Young album I could find. That album was with the Oscar Peterson trio, and is one of the most influential albums in my life. I discovered the jazz organ through the Grateful Dead and haven’t stopped digging yet. I spent years studying Brent Mydland’s use of the Hammond B-3, and in the process discovered Jimmy Smith, John Medeski, and Baby Face Willette. I studied literature at The University of Tennessee and wrote for their newspaper. I spent a great deal of my college career reading Jack Kerouac, Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck, Chekhov, and Dostoevsky. In between classes I studied the jazz greats in the music library sifting through their endless selection of jazz books and music. It was in this library that I discovered Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Shirley Scott, Dave Brubeck, and Duke Ellington. I currently travel the U.S. with my wife Heather. We own a large collection of 50s and 60s jazz vinyl. We read. We drink. We listen to good music, and we are happy.