Jake Smolowe

Bio

About

Jake Smolowe is a Bay Area pianist, composer, music educator, arranger and film scorer, currently based in San Francisco. He specializes in jazz improvisation but his work explores many genres, including funk, rock, blues, latin, folk, gospel, classical, electronic and experimental music.

Background

Jake fell in love with jazz at a young age while attending the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and graduated from Stanford University in 2006 with a B.A. in Music with Honors in Composition. After graduating he moved a few miles north to join the vibrant San Francisco jazz community, and has been making music in the City ever since.

Performance

Jake has toured throughout the U.S. and Canada with several bands, including rock/Americana band Sioux City Kid, soul/R&B band Quinn Deveaux and the Blue Beat Revue, and internationally renowned blues harpist and vocalist John Németh. He appears as a contributing artist on Németh’s 2010 release, “Name The Day,” playing organ on gospel-tinged ballad “Why Not Me.”

Most recently, Jake appears on Bay Area saxophonist Jeff Derby’s debut original jazz album, “Finding Balance” (released April 2020), performing on 8 of 10 tracks; he also performs solo jazz piano concerts of his own work via YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. His original music and covers are available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms.

Education

Jake values music education, and has been teaching private piano lessons throughout the Bay Area since 2005. His lessons focus on jazz and other popular styles, technique, fundamentals, theory and harmony, and composition. Recently, he began teaching piano tutorials online via YouTube and Patreon.

Jake is also involved in the greater Bay Area music education community, including the Stanford Jazz Workshop and other organizations. He currently works as a piano coach with SJW through their Giant Steps Big Band program (2015-2017). Additionally, he has assisted SJW director Jim Nadel with his Stanford Continuing Studies jazz listening class since 2003.

Composition

Jake is a versatile composer and arranger. He has scored music for documentaries, animated short films and webcomics, and has also written for big band, small jazz ensembles and solo piano. He composes and arranges for his own bands, his YouTube and Patreon videos, and by commission.

Influences

(partial list, no particular order)

Brad Mehldau
Taylor Eigsti
Geoffrey Keezer
Art Blakey
Chopin
Robert Glasper
Bill Evans
Herbie Hancock
J.S. Bach
The Bad Plus
Terence Blanchard
Jacob Collier
Maria Schneider
Peter Apfelbaum
Arvo Pärt
Michael Brecker
Joshua Redman
McCoy Tyner