Detroit native Roland Hanna, was a world renowned pianist, composer, and educator.
With an open-minded approach to music, he drew from jazz as well as Romantic composers like Ravel, Debussy and Chopin. He composed for solo piano, symphony orchestras and dance groups. Hanna released many albums under his own name and recorded and performed with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Charles Mingus, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, and Coleman Hawkins.
After playing concerts that helped to raise over $100,000 for the education of the children of Liberia, Hanna was knighted by the Liberian president and has since been referred to as Sir Roland Hanna. Hanna was a tenured professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York and passed away in 2002 at the age of 70.
Music In This Episode:
1. Lover Come Back To Me (Sigmund Romberg) from Roland Hanna Trio Lover Come Back To Me
2. One O'Clock Jump (Count Basie) from Benny Goodman Live at the Brussel's World Fair
3. I Say Hello (Harold Rome) from Roland Hanna Quartet Plays Harold Rome's 'Destry Rides Again'
4. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Mercer Ellington) from Charles MingusShoes of the Fisherman's Wife
5. The Groove Merchant (Jerome Richardson) from Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra Central Park North
6. A Child Is Born (Thad Jones/Roland Hanna) from Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra Consummation
7. Big Bad Henry (Roland Hanna) from New York Jazz Quartet Surge
8. Seasons (Roland Hanna) from Sarah Vaughan Crazy and Mixed Up
9. Everything I Love from Roland Hanna Everything I Love
