Jazz bass player
Hans Glawischnig was born in Graz, Austria, on October 22, 1970. His father was a respected pianist, big-band leader, and educator who inspired him to pursue a career in music. In 1976
Glawischnig enrolled as a violinist in the talented pupils' class of the Academy of Music in Graz. In 1983 he began playing the electric bass guitar, and by 1986 he'd added the acoustic double bass. From 1986 to 1988 he studied part-time in the jazz department of the Academy with American expatriate bassist
Wayne Darling. After graduating from high school,
Glawischnig moved to the United States to accept a scholarship at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. During those years, he studied with bassist
Bruce Gertz; played and recorded with faculty members
Hal Crook, Phil Wilson, and
Greg Hopkins, and accompanied several visiting clinicians, including drummers
Steve Smith and Casey Scheuerell. In 1992 he received his B.A. magna cum laude, then headed for New York City to enter the Master's program at Manhattan School of Music, also on a scholarship. He met and studied with
Jeff Andrews while also giving private lessons, and received his degree in 1994. The first professional break for
Glawischnig came in 1995 when he joined
Bobby Watson's Urban Renewal alongside drummer
Victor Lewis, followed by a stint with Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau and in 1996 with
Ray Barretto's New World Spirit band.
This led to a dizzying number of collaborations, and marked
Glawischnig as a first-call bassist in the Big Apple. Further collaborations included playing a wide variety of contemporary jazz and Latin musics with
Paquito d'Rivera,
David Samuels,
Bobby Sanabria,
Rick Margitza,
Garry Dial,
Billy Harper,
Richie Beirach,
Billy Hart,
Joe Locke,
David Sanchez,
Dave Binney,
Ken Hatfield,
Adam Rogers,
Mark Murphy,
Stefon Harris,
Claudio Roditi,
Donny McCaslin,
Billy Drewes,
Ari Hoenig,
James Moody,
Jamey Haddad,
Brian Lynch,
Phil Woods, and
Claudia Acuña. His work with
David Sanchez garnered that band two Grammy nominations.
Glawischnig recorded his original compositions for the Fresh Sound/New Talent CD
Common Ground. A reunion with
Ray Barretto on a tribute to
Art Blakey saw
Glawischnig contributing an arrangement of "Buh's Bossa," and a session with
Brian Lynch featured his original composition "Beholding." He released the critically acclaimed
Panorama in 2008 and followed four years later with
Jahira, a trio outing inspired by
Charlie Haden and
Sonny Rollins' small ensemble works (both recordings were on the Sunnyside label). ~ Michael G. Nastos