Roland Hanna


Roland Pembroke Hanna was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher.

Biography

Hanna studied classical piano from the age of 11, but was strongly interested in jazz, having been introduced to it by his friend, pianist Tommy Flanagan. This interest increased after his time in military service, 1950–52. He studied briefly at the Eastman School of Music in 1953 and then enrolled at the Juilliard School when he moved to New York two years later. He worked with several big names in the 1950s, including Benny Goodman and Charles Mingus, and graduated in 1960. Between 1963 and 1966 Hanna led his own trio, then from 1966 to 1974 he was a regular member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Hanna also toured the Soviet Union with this orchestra in 1972. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet.
Roland Hanna was in semi-retirement for most of the 1980s, though he played piano and wrote the song "Seasons" for Sarah Vaughan's 1982 album Crazy and Mixed Up, and returned to music later in the decade. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hanna was a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Around this time, he also began composing chamber and orchestral music; a ballet he wrote has also been performed.
In 1970, Hanna was given an honorary knighthood by President William Tubman of Liberia in recognition of concerts he played in the country to raise money for education. Thereafter, Hanna was often known as "Sir Roland Hanna." Hanna was a professor of jazz at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in Flushing, New York, and taught at several other music schools. He was a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey.
He died in Hackensack, New Jersey, of a viral infection of the heart, on November 13, 2002.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Compilations
With Pepper Adams
With Gene Ammons
With George Benson
With Dee Dee Bridgewater
With Ruth Brown
With Kenny Burrell
With Benny Carter
With Ron Carter
  • All Blues
  • Spanish Blue
  • Stardust
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
  • Love Calls
With Richard Davis
  • Muses for Richard Davis
  • Persia My Dear
With Eddie Daniels
  • First Prize!
With Jon Faddis and Billy Harper
  • Jon & Billy
With Stéphane Grappelli
  • Meets the Rhythm Section
With John Handy
  • In the Vernacular
With Jimmy Heath
  • Little Man Big Band
With Al Hibbler
  • Early One Morning
With Freddie Hubbard
  • The Hub of Hubbard
With Elvin Jones
  • Dear John C.
  • Very R.A.R.E.
With Jim Hall
  • Concierto
With Miriam Klein
  • By Myself
With Jimmy Knepper
With Hubert Laws
  • Laws' Cause
With Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
  • Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra – Jazz At Lincoln Center: They Came To Swing
With Herbie Mann
  • Glory of Love
With Les McCann
  • Comment
With Charles Mingus
  • Mingus Dynasty
With Frank Morgan
With Idris Muhammad
  • House of the Rising Sun
With Ray Nance
  • Body and Soul
With Kwame Nkrumah
  • The Ninth Son
With Seldon Powell
  • Seldon Powell Sextet Featuring Jimmy Cleveland
With Red Rodney
With Don Sebesky
With Louis Smith
  • Prancin
With Sonny Stitt
  • Mr. Bojangles
  • Satan
With Stanley Turrentine
  • If I Could
With Phil Woods'