Jack Petersen (guitarist)

For the boxer, see Jack Petersen.
Jack Petersen
Born Jack Leroy Petersen
October 25, 1933
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)

Jack Leroy Petersen (born 25 Oct 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.[1] He was a pedagogical architect for jazz guitar and jazz improvisation at three institutions of higher learning:

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).

Biography

Family background

His father, Harold Petersen (24 April 1904 Beemer, Nebraska – 28 December 1971 Denton, Texas) had worked for LTV and his mother, Effie Ellen Peterson, née Smith (7 July 1900 Hammon, Oklahoma — 29 May 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.[2] Hames introduced Petersen – and Petersen's friend, Dick Crockett – to jazz recordings of Karl 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.[3] Petersen graduated from Denton High School 1951.[4]

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.[1]

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

  1. Cheryl A. Petersen (b. Boston, MA) now of Palm Coast, FL
  2. 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.[1] 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 renown 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

Select discography

Instruments

Petersen's primary jazz guitar is a Benedetto Fratello Archtop.[8]

Benedetto Guitars

See also

Compositions & arrangements

Publications

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tim Schneckloth, Jack Petersen, Down Beat, pgs. 32-33 (March 24, 1977)
  2. ↑ After WW II, many service musicians entered higher education on the G.I. Bill (colleges that foresaw and met the demand for specialized training in jazz were North Texas State U, Berklee College of Music, and U of Miami and rose to prominence in the field) – "Jazz Studies in American Schools and Colleges: a Brief History" by Daniel Murphy – Jazz Educators Journal, Vol 26, pp 34-8 (1994)
  3. ↑ Dick Crockett, Autobiography
  4. ↑ Denton H.S. Will Graduate 135 Seniors, Denton Record-Chronicle (May 6, 1951)
  5. ↑ "Miss Wilkinson, Jack Petersen Exchange Vows", Denton Record-Chronicle (Sept 25, 1960)
  6. ↑ Peterson to Tour With Dance Band, The Denton Record-Chronicle, col. 5, pg. pg. 2, Sept. 8, 1957 ("Petersen" is misspelled in article as "Peterson"
  7. ↑ Charles Chapman, Mel Bay Presents Interviews with the Jazz Greats — and More Mel Bay (June 1, 2001)
  8. ↑ Terence M. Ripmaster, Bucky Pizzarelli: A Life in Music, Mel Bay (c1998)