Name Jack Petersen | Role Guitarist | |
Full Name Jack Leroy Petersen Born October 25, 1933 (age 90) ( 1933-10-25 ) Elk City, Oklahoma, U.S. Occupation Jazz guitarist, collegiate jazz educator, composer, pianist, arranger, clinician Employer Berklee (1963–1965)
North Texas (1970s-1988)
North Florida (1988–1999) Education Denton High School, University of North Texas Books Chords Galore: A Systemati, Jazz tunes for improvisation, Beginning Guitar: Mastering, Jazz Tunes for Improvisa, Beginning Guitar: Essential Similar People Rich Matteson, John LaPorta, Mike Vax, Phil Wilson, One O'Clock Lab Band | ||
Jack petersen unf professor of jazz guitar plays
Jack Leroy Petersen (born October 25, 1933 Elk City, Oklahoma) is an American jazz guitarist, pianist, composer, arranger, music publisher, music clinician, and renowned pioneer in jazz education who revolutionized guitar education. He was a pedagogical architect for jazz guitar and jazz improvisation at three institutions of higher learning:
Contents
- Jack petersen unf professor of jazz guitar plays
- Mundell lowe jack petersen jazz these foolish things
- Family background
- Early guitar education
- US Army
- College
- Family
- Career
- Guitar lab innovation
- Performance associations
- Former students
- References
First full-time jazz guitar teacher at the Berklee College of Music (1962–1965 – Inaugural Chair, Guitar Department)
Longstanding and influential jazz guitar artist in residence at the University of North Texas College of Music (1976–1988 – Resident Artist, Jazz Guitar, Improv).
Joining his close colleague, Rich Matteson, who was recruited from North Texas to build a new program at the University of North Florida focusing on jazz, Petersen built a jazz guitar program (1988–1995; fully retiring 1999 – Resident Artist and Associate Professor).
Mundell lowe jack petersen jazz these foolish things
Family background
His father, Harold Petersen (April 24, 1904 Beemer, Nebraska – December 28, 1971 Denton, Texas) had worked for LTV and his mother, Effie Ellen Petersen, née Smith (July 7, 1900 Hammon, Oklahoma — May 29, 1974 Denton, Texas) had worked at Russel-Newman Manufacturing Company for 19 years.
When Jack Petersen was 5, his family moved to Denton, Texas. He began playing guitar when he was 16 (about 1949), his initial influence being Western Swing.
Early guitar education
Petersen won a course in guitar from a radio contest. The teacher was Bob Hames, an ex-GI attending North Texas from Wolfe City, TX. Hames introduced Petersen – and Petersen's friend, Dick Crockett – to jazz recordings of Carl Kress, Tal Farlow, Chuck Wayne, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Barry Galbraith, Remo Palmieri, Oscar Moore, and Charlie Christian.
During Petersen's high school years, he and his friend and guitarist, Dick Crockett (né Richard Neville Crockett; born 1934), spent a lot of time listening to the North Texas Lab Bands and small groups that performed on campus. Petersen graduated from Denton High School 1951.
U.S. Army
In 1955, Petersen enlisted in the Army to perform with the 8th US Army Band in Seoul, Korea. While in Seoul, Petersen met a lot of musicians and played 11 gigs a week.
College
After leaving the Army, Petersen attended North Texas to study music, playing cello and double bass in the orchestra and guitar and piano in the jazz ensemble where he collaborated closely with faculty members Gene Hall and Floyd Graham.
Petersen was proficient on double bass, cello, and piano, all of which gave him sight reading skills, a differentiating edge for guitarists of the day who were earning money in recording studios and dance orchestras. Sight reading and being able to maneuver jazz progressions (beyond blues, pentatonic, and classic rock) made Petersen a sought-after guitarist in recording studios, with big bands, and performing artists who had little time to teach parts to sidemen.
Family
- Cheryl A. Petersen (b. Boston, MA) now of Prescott Valley, AZ
- Scott Petersen (b 1970, Dallas, TX) aka Catharsis, is an electronic music recording artist, studio engineer, DJ, and member of PC Synergy, a group signed with Om Records and Scott's own imprint partnership, Soul Support Recordings, with engineer Phil Green of Greenteam Media Inc. Publisher Greentiger Publishing ASCAP
Career
Demand for Petersen's talent as a guitarist lured him away from college before he finished his degree, but he never lost contact with or mutual admiration for his collegiate mentors. Some say that, despite having no degree, Petersen's early influences from North Texas gave him the talent, vision, inspiration, and connections to make jazz guitar a highly respected discipline at major academic institutions of higher learning. Petersen laid foundations at three such institutions for future generations of guitarists to emerge well rounded in music and with academic diplomas.
Guitar lab innovation
While at Berklee, Petersen introduced a guitar lab concept that transformed guitar education, particularly jazz guitar, with respect to sight reading and with respect to accommodating large numbers of guitar students. He created a big band composed of 12 guitars in three units of four – one unit would cover the woodwinds of a big band, one would cover the trombones, and one would cover the trumpets. The guitar players read single notes, just like horn players — no chords. Later, Petersen helped his colleague at North Texas, Rich Matteson develop a similar concept for low brass, creating a big band composed solely of low brass instruments. The Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort was composed mostly of renowned professional artists and educators.
Performance associations
Petersen's professional performance associations include the following:
Former students
Berklee College of Music
University of North Texas
University of North Florida
Prescott, AZ