Jake Hanna was a versatile drummer who played with such jazz figures as Woody Herman and was a longtime member of the band on Merv Griffin's television show.



Jake Hanna was born as John Edwin Hanna on April 4, 1931, in Dorchester, Mass. He started playing drums as a teenager.



Jake Hanna was equally at home playing with big bands or small groups. He performed with Herman in 1957 and the early 1960s, then joined Griffin's band, in which he played until 1975. Hanna moved to the West Coast when the show relocated from New York to Los Angeles.



During his career, Jake Hanna also played with Maynard Ferguson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, the Marian McPartland Trio, Roberta Gambarini, Harry James, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, among others.



Hanna died Friday, February 12, 2010 at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center of complications from a bone marrow disease.