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Jon Hamar
I 2003 Jon released a “mostly” solo bass cd on Pony Boy Records featuring his own compositions as well as arrangements of songs that he grew up listening to. “I looked back to those songs that upon hearing for the first time I could not stop singing in my head.” This resulted in an “amazing selection of solo upright works that captivate the imagination and free the mind. Playing melody along with supporting lines, Hamar invokes the essence of jazz, pop and Celtic moods. Joined by drums and sax on a few cuts, Hamar leads the way from the bottom (Pony Boy Review).
In addition to his role as a leader, since moving to Seattle in 2001 Hamar has been active in the role of supporting bassist. Jon has been busy as a recording artist playing on multiple cds with singer/songwriting artists including Wendy Huckins, Brian Finnell, Hans York, Eric Goetz and Bobby Krier. Recently Hamar played on Brian Owens’ disc Unmei, released on the OA2 label from Origin Records and will be heard on Carl Tanner’s upcoming release “Hear the Angels Sing” on Sony Classical. Jon has recently been performing with Jay Thomas, Ernestine Anderson, the Greg Williamson Quartet and the Axiom Quartet.
Gear
Shertler stat-B pick-up, monster cables, Acoustic Image bass amplifier, Acme Bass cabinet, bows by R. Hudson - R. Dow - G. Lucchi
Tags
Jack Jones Featuring Joey DeFrancesco: ArtWork
by Nicholas F. Mondello
"Those who know, know" happens to be a soon-to-be-overused phrase to describe the hip, the “In," and “the very elite of aware." Now in his Mid-80s, Jack Jones has maintained a stellar, cross-media career, all on a foundation of a once-in-a-lifetime voice. Mel Torme, one not easily prone to hyperbole, called Jones, “the best pure singer in the business." Torme and others in the Vocal Pantheon knew. With ArtWork, Jones joins forces with the late multi-instrumentalist and ...
read moreJack Jones Featuring Joey DeFrancesco: ArtWork
by Jack Bowers
If a singer's reputation is so impressive that he or she is able to enlist a full orchestra (with bassist John Clayton conducting) and the late organ maestro Joey DeFrancesco as featured soloist, that is certainly enough to warrant attention. The singer in this instance is two-time Grammy winner Jack Jones, the orchestra an assemblage of some of the Los Angeles area's finest musicians, enlarged by a thirty-member string section. On one hand, Jones remains a smooth ...
read moreJeff Hamilton Trio: Merry & Bright
by Jack Bowers
After thinking for many years about producing an album of holiday songs, drummer Jeff Hamilton finally took the plunge in March 2021, recording with his trio the delightful Merry & Bright whose seasonal perspective is far more contemporary than traditional, with only one of its ten selections ("O Tannenbaum") predating the mid-twentieth century. The mood is for the most part temperate and easygoing, a charming showcase for Hamilton's superlative brush work and deft interplay by all hands. ...
read moreJim Knapp Orchestra: It's Not Business, It's Personal
by Jack Bowers
The Jim Knapp Orchestra's CD It's Not Business, It's Personal, recorded in February 2009, was set to be released on November 19, 2021—six days after Knapp died at age eighty-two in Kirkland, Washington. Apart from his role as bandleader, Knapp was a trumpeter, composer, arranger and longtime faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Described by Grammy-winning composer/pianist Jim McNeely as “a brilliant musician, great teacher and a humble, sweet [and] generous man," Knapp was widely recognized ...
read moreJeff Hamilton Trio: Catch Me If You Can
by Jack Bowers
Any trio anchored by drummer Jeff Hamilton has a clear head start when compared to any would-be rivals. That's because Hamilton's unerring and tasteful timekeeping and resourceful use of brushes and sticks would be any trio's dream come true. In this case it's Hamilton's own trio, recording at least the sixteenth album under that name, the bulk of them with the superb Israeli-born pianist Tamir Hendelman at his side and, this time, with bassist Jon Hamar replacing longtime partner Christoph ...
read moreJon Hamar: Hymn
by Hrayr Attarian
Seattle bassist Jon Hamar's third release as a leader is an intimate and collaborative effort. The textured harmonies with hints of western Classical influences that are heard on his prior CDs have further matured on Hymn, thanks, in no small part, to his choice of sidemen. Reed multi-instrumentalist Todd DelGiudice (a past collaborator who sticks to alto throughout this record) takes an approach inspired by saxophonist Charlie Parker on the whimsical “The Big Fat Hen" and his ...
read moreJon Hamar: Hymn
by C. Michael Bailey
Origin Arts bassist Jon Hamar effects an intimate trio with alto saxophonist Todd DelGiudice and pianist Geoffrey Keezer on Hymn. Heard most recently, prior to this date, on Richard Cole's Inner Mission (Origin Records, 2007), Hamar's Hymn is heavy on introspective yet muscular originals, as Hamar also chooses some sturdy standards upon which to improvise. Hamar closes is disc with a swinging reading of Lew Brown's “Comes Love." Keezer rolls his fingers just right in the introduction, ...
read morePrimary Instrument
Bass, acoustic
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced
Credentials/Background
Central Washinton University - adjunct faculty Northwest University - Adjunct Faculty Musicworks Northwest - String Bass Faculty
Photos
Music
Gray Skies
From: It's Not Business, It's PersonalBy Jon Hamar
Prospect Park West
From: Idyl WildBy Jon Hamar
Familiar Friend
From: HymnBy Jon Hamar
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