Drummer / Percussionist Birthday Calendar

Jake Hanna, born on April 4, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts, was an American jazz drummer and studio musician.

His first gigs were locally, near his home town of Boston, working as the house drummer at Storyville for a number of years in the 1950s and 1960s. Jake had a busy schedule as a studio musician, recording several albums with Carl Fontana for Concord Jazz in the mid-1970s, drummer for the band Supersax, and played with the likes of Toshiko Akiyoshi (1957), Maynard Ferguson (1958), Marian McPartland (1959-61), Woody Herman's Orchestra (1962-64), Harry James, Supersax, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Oscar Peterson, and Count Basie. With over 250 album recordings to his credit, Jake was also the drummer for the Merv Griffin Show big band for over a decade (1964-75).

Jake passed away on February 12, 2010, in Los Angeles, due to complications from blood disease.

In 2012, Jake's neice, Maria Judge, released her memoir, Jake Hanna: The Rhythm and Wit of a Swinging Jazz Drummer, which recounts the life story and career of Jake Hanna through tributes, recollections and anecdotes — many of them his own hilarious quips — from more than 170 friends, fans, and fellow performers.