Jesse Simon

The The MN Hardbop Collective, lead by professional jazz drummer Jesse Simon has been actively performing composer specific hard bop jazz concerts in the Twin Cities since April of 2016 at The Twin Cities Jazz Festival, The Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project, and area jazz venues such as Jazz Central Studios, The Black Dog, The Reverie, and Vieux Carre. The mission of the Minnesota (MN) Hard Bop Collective is to preserve the jazz music of the hard bop eras by performing this rarely heard music live with the energy and sound that the composers intended while engaging audience members in historical anecdotes on the music being performed. We play around the Minneapolis / St. Paul area regularly. Keep an eye on Facebook for upcoming events.

Jazz drummer Jesse Simon started playing the drums at age 9 and by 13 he was gigging in the Boulder/Denver area. He recorded his first album at the age of 14 and was working at local jazz clubs with area musicians. While still in high school Jesse got the opportunity to perform with Lew Tebakin and Conti Condoli and at Telluride Jazz Festival, with Phil Woods. In 1995 Jesse ventured to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music where he eventually shared the stage with the late Milt Hinton, Barry Harris, Stefon Harris, Chris Potter, Peter Bernstein and Jane Monheit, to name a few. While in New York he studied extensively with the late Joe Morello (Dave Brubeck Quartet). After graduating from MSM in 1999, Jesse worked as a professional jazz musician in Denver, Houston and Minneapolis. Jesse is also a producer and a music educator. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and two sons.

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