Jack Petersen (guitarist) - Career

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.

• 1957 — Petersen joined the Hal McIntyre Orchestra on September 8, 1957, in Knoxville, Tennessee, for its upcoming European tour.

• 1958–62 — Petersen was a Dallas studio musician recording jingles, first as a guitarist and sometimes pianist, then as producer, composer. Much of the work was making IDs for radio stations all over the country. Petersen once remarked in an interview that people don't realize the work that goes into it — "In 20 seconds, you've got to write a whole symphony".

• 1960 — Gene Hall recruited Petersen to teach with him at Stan Kenton Band Clinics. As of 1977, Petersen has been with Stan Kenton Band Clinics for some 17 years.

• 1962 — Petersen accepted an invitation by Lawrence Berk, founder of Berklee, to design and chair the first formal guitar curriculum at Berklee College of Music. Berk discovered Petersen through his affiliation with the Stan Kenton Band Clinics.

• 1965 — Petersen returned to Dallas because of high demand to work as a performer and studio musician. While in Dallas, Jack and Claudette had a son — Scott Alan Petersen (b. July 9, 1970, Dallas County, TX, now of Orlando, FL).

• Mid-1970s — Leon Breeden invited Petersen to develop the jazz guitar program at North Texas. Petersen, with jazz pianist Dan Haerle, helped lead a jazz improv curriculum that Rich Matteson had revamped.

• 1974 — Petersen, along with Rich Matteson and Phil Wilson, founded the music publishing company, Outrageous Mother, Inc., a Texas corporation, to distribute their arrangements.

• 1988 — Matteson recruited Petersen, his longtime colleague, to build a jazz guitar program. Rich Matteson, who had been teaching jazz at the University of North Texas for 13 years, was recruited in 1986 by the University of North Florida to build program focusing on America's legacy in music, jazz. Petersen taught at UNF as resident artist and associate professor until his retirement in 1995, retiring fully in 1999.

• 2003 — Petersen moved to Prescott, AZ, and performs regularly, particularly as guest artist and clinician around the country.