# Steve Hass

Steve Hass (born May 11, 1975) is an American drummer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Island Park, New York, born to Greek immigrant parents from Athens. He is notable for his technical skill, time feel, and his musical versatility, having played with many artists from a wide variety of genres.

## Early life

Born at Nassau Community Hospital in Long Beach, a suburb of New York City , Steven Hasapoglou was the youngest of three brothers raised in a blue collar lower middle class home in Island Park N.Y. He began playing music in the Lincoln Orens school concert band at the age of 12. Two years later he formed bands outside of school with neighborhood kids. One band, named Life In General, experienced mild success with gigs in Manhattan and record label interest from EMI records.
Steve’s family then moved to Lake Ronkonkoma where he attended Sachem High School and was also in the concert band. There his band director was a jazz trumpeter, and Steve started showing interest in jazz music.
At the age of 17 Steve began working professionally in wedding and club bands around the tri-state area.

## Education

Steve studied privately with various top professionals at The Drummers Collective in Manhattan. He then applied for a scholarship to the Percussion Institute Of Technology in Los Angeles and was asked to attend the “pro learn” program designed for professional drummers. There he won the Sabian Cymbals award for best jazz drummer. This was the beginning of his 30 plus years as a Sabian Cymbal artist. While at P.I.T , Steve auditioned for the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He was awarded a full tuition scholarship.
He was the first student in the drum department to be sent around the world as a Berklee student representative, along with other students as a part of trios and quartets. Steve performed in Cyprus, Japan, France, and New Zealand as a Berklee student representative. He was also in the first Berklee-Monterey Quartet. A quartet sent to play at the Monterey Jazz festival in California. Steve was the drummer in this quartet for two consecutive years. While in Boston he worked professionally in many bands to pay for books and housing.

## Career

After attending Berklee College of Music on scholarship from 1993–1996 Steve was asked to join the Ravi Coltrane Quartet. He toured and recorded with the band from 1996 to 2002. The music was a mixture of traditional jazz, funk, and odd meter fusion. During this time Steve was also a studio drummer in New York City playing on dozens of national jingles, record dates, television shows, and movie soundtracks. He was also a member of Ruben Wilson's "Masters Of Groove" where he shared the drum chair with the legendary Bernard Purdie. In addition, during this period Steve toured with Christian McBride, Suzanne Vega, Miri Ben-Ari, Bob Berg, and Richard Bona amongst others.
In 2003 Steve began touring and recording with multiple Grammy winners and Atlantic recording artists, The Manhattan Transfer. He remains the first call drummer for The Manhattan Transfer, and works with them as his schedule permits. He is the first touring drummer in the history of the band to actually record with them. He is featured on 3 album releases and 1 live concert DVD. In late 2003, Hass released a solo album named Traveler. The C.D displays Hass' skills as a talented producer. His usage of sonic layering and drum loops is reminiscent of Jon Brion.
In 2005 Steve joined John Scofield and Mavis Staples to support Scofield's Verve release "That's What I'd Say". The band toured around the world from 2005 until December 2007 playing R+B, Soul, Jazz and Latin. . Scofield also used Steve in his jazz trio, along with bassist John Benitez for select local N.Y dates.
In 2006 Hass had an eight-page feature interview in Modern Drummer Magazine. He is now a regular educational contributor in the "ask a pro" and "workshop" columns.

### Los Angeles

In 2007 Steve established a second residence in Los Angeles and quickly became a popular choice for musicians and producers on the L.A scene, both live and in the studio. His company Hassbeat Productions Inc. provides studio services to artists worldwide while allowing Steve to record drum tracks for a variety of artists around the world. He continues to tour with a variety of artists. Since moving to Los Angeles Steve has become a regular with renowned artists such as Billy Childs, Bob Sheppard, Brandon Fields and Alan Pasqua as well as maintaining his presence in the studio with contemporary rock singer/songwriters. 2012 has been his busiest year yet juggling recording sessions for producers The Difference, Rami Yadid and Ken Wallace and tours with R+B great Patti Austin, top selling fusion/new age pianist Keiko Matsui and The Manhattan Transfer. He continues to work with R&B/Jazz Grammy winner Patti Austin in all variations of her touring band. In 2018 Hass began working with Jeff Lorber and The Jeff Lorber Fusion. They toured the United States and Europe until the Covid pandemic of 2020 caused all travel to stop.

## Musical affiliations

Here is a short list of Steve Hass' musical affiliations in alphabetical order:
* Abe Laboriel Sr.
* Adam Rogers
* Art Garfunkel
* Billy Childs
* Bob Berg
* Bob Mintzer
* Bob Sheppard
* Brandon Fields
* Cher
* Chris Mann
* Danilo Perez
* Debbie Gibson
* George Garzone
* Jeff Lorber
* The Jeff Lorber Fusion
* Jennifer Love Hewitt
* Jimmy Haslip
* Jon Hendricks
* Katisse
* Keiko Matsui
* Larry Coryell
* Lucy Woodward
* Mark Turner
* Mavis Staples
* Mindi Abair
* Miri Ben-Ari
* Nicholas Payton
* Nnenna Freelon
* Patti Austin
* Ralph Alessi/Ravi Coltrane Group
* Randy Brecker
* Ravi Coltrane
* Richard Bona
* Ruben Wilson
* Stanely Jordan
* Suzanne Vega
* Terell Stafford
* The Alan Pasqua Group
* The Boneshakers
* The BBC Big Band
* .The Count Basie Big Band
* .The Duke Ellington Orchestra
* The Christian McBride Band
* The East Village Opera Company
* The John Scofield Band(Music Of Ray Charles)
* The John Scofield Trio with John Benitez
* The Lonnie Plaxico Group
* The Manhattan Transfer
* The New York Voices
* The Tierney Sutton Band
* Timothy Lefebvre
* Traci Lords
* Vinx
* Wayne Krantz
* Will Lee
* Wynton Marsalis
and many more

## Abbreviated discography

| Year | Artist | Album |
| 1993 | Madden Rae | Madden Rae |
| 1994 | Ferdinando Argenti | Aregenti |
| 1994 | Berklee College of Music | The Berklee All Stars |
| 1994 | Vincent Bourgeyx | The Vincent Bourgeyx Trio |
| 1996 | Mark De Clive Lowe | Jazz In The Present Tense |
| 1996 | Danilo Perez | Hugo Pool Film Soundtrack |
| 1997 | Anthony Alonzo | From Deep Within |
| 1998 | House Of Red | House Of Red |
| 1998 | Yoshitaka Soji and Joey Calderazzo | Circle Of The Sea |
| 1998 | The East Side Of Fascination | Compilation Vol. 1 |
| 1998 | Sasi Shalom Quartet | Endless Nights |
| 1998 | Mike Arroyo | My Jazzy Mood |
| 1999 | New York Jazz Guerilla | Method To The Madness |
| 1999 | Miri Ben-Ari | Sahara |
| 1999 | Meg Flather | It's About Time |
| 1999 | Nini Camps | LOVE PIE |
| 1999 | Darryl Hall | Subtle Touch |
| 1999 | Sarel River | Two in One |
| 1999 | Nick Petrone | A New Day Has Begun |
| 1999 | Inappropriate | Soundtrack |
| 1999 | Mark Peterson | The Blue Room |
| 2000 | Daniel Lemma | Introducing Daniel Lemma |
| 2000 | Frank Vignola | Deja-Vu |
| 2000 | Dana Mase | A Million Miles |
| 2000 | KAZBA | SilverFoote |
| 2000 | Steven Jaymes | SEVEN |
| 2000 | Gus Renner | Moving On |
| 2000 | Danielle Gasparo | Open Book |
| 2000 | Angelo Montrone | Angelo Montrone |
| 2000 | Kitchen Bar Music | Compilation |
| 2000 | Jaques Swartz Bart | Standard Time |
| 2001 | Open Book | Open Book |
| 2001 | Miri Ben-Ari and Wynton Marsalis | Song Of The Promised Land |
| 2001 | Matthew Parish | Circles |
| 2001 | Frederic Ndoci | Canterina |
| 2001 | Sylvia Tosun | Anthem |
| 2001 | JOAN | The Original Cast Recording |
| 2001 | Sarel River | Two in One |
| 2001 | Steven Jaymes | Hemingway's Cats |
| 2001 | CHERRY | CHERRY EP |
| 2002 | Scott Sylvester | Redemption Center |
| 2002 | Chris Emerson | Tourist |
| 2002 | Christos Rafalides' Manhattan Vibes | Manhattan Vibes |
| 2002 | Ravi Coltrane | Mad Six |
| 2003 | The Cincinnati Pops | Got Swing! |
| 2003 | Miri Ben-Ari | Temple Of Beautiful |
| 2003 | CHER | "Song For The Lonely" Remix |
| 2003 | George Colligan | Live At Blues Alley |
| 2003 | Steve Hass | Traveler |
| 2004 | The Manhattan Transfer | Vibrate |
| 2004 | Neshama Carlebach | Journey |
| 2004 | Tina Shafer | Promises To Eve |
| 2004 | Telarc Records | Telarc Sampler |
| 2004 | Marie Dela Cruz | No Expiration Date |
| 2004 | Dana Mase | Thread Of Blue |
| 2005 | The Manhattan Transfer | The Christmas Concert DVD |
| 2005 | Kathleen Pemble | Learning To Listen Again |
| 2005 | Alan Paul | Another Place And Time |
| 2005 | Pan Morigan | Castles Of Gold |
| 2005 | David Morgan | Ordinary Glory |
| 2006 | Janis Siegel | A Thousand Beautiful Things |
| 2006 | Janis Siegel | Live In Milan |
| 2006 | Jeff Roberson | The Bethesda Project |
| 2006 | Lisa Richards | Mad Love |
| 2006 | The Manhattan Transfer | The Symphony Sessions |
| 2006 | Yaron Gershovsky | Personal Notes |
| 2007 | Lynne Clarke | Later On |
| 2007 | George Petit | End Of August |
| 2007 | Wedding Jimmy (Short Film) | Film Composer and Percussionist |
| 2008 | Susan Kane | Highway Bouquet |
| 2008 | K.J Denhert | Lucky Seven |
| 2008 | Judy Wexler | Dreams And Shadows |
| 2009 | Magnolia Memoir | Magnolia Memoir |
| 2009 | Red Hook (Film) | Drummer |
| 2009 | Mark Winkler | Till I Get It Right |
| 2009 | The Manhattan Transfer | The Chick Corea Songbook |
| 2010 | Jeff Richman | Like That |
| 2010 | Chris Colangelo | Elaines' Song |
| 2010 | Tim Hauser | Love Stories |
| 2011 | Jose Marie Chan | The Manhattan Connection |
| 2011 | Ginny Owens | Before You Fly Single |
| 2011 | Ginny Owens | Get In I'm Driving |
| 2011 | Allegro | Summer Sampler 2011 |
| 2011 | Judy Wexler | Under A Painted Sky |
| 2012 | Dare To Dream | A Minor Inconvenience |
| 2012 | Traci Lords | Last Drag |
| 2012 | Kristi Salas | Admit It |
| 2012 | The Difference | Beats Volume 1 |
| 2012 | Andrew Ash | Grudges |
| 2012 | Ishmael Herring | Right Here |
| 2013 | Neshama Carlebach | One And One |
| 2013 | Katisse | " A World To The Wise" |
| 2013 | Cecilia Margolis-Rami Yadid | "New Sinai Sound" |
| 2013 | Traci Lords | "Stupidville" |
| 2013 | Judy Wexler | "What I See” |
| 2014 | The Mitchell Forman Trio | "Puzzle" |
| 2015 | Todd Hunter | "Eat, Drink, Play" |
| 2016 | Grace Kelly | "Trying To Figure It Out" |
| 2017 | Stephanie Rebecca Patton | "Breath Of Spring" |
| 2018 | Jordan Siwek | "Sun Inside You" |
| 2019 | Judy Wexler | "Crowded Heart" |
| 2019 | Gretja Angell | "In Any Key" |
| 2019 | Alex Wurman-Netflix | "Between Two Ferns Soundtrack" |
| 2020 | Tania Wilk | "Carousel" |
| 2020 | Eric FH LAW | "Better Angels" |
| 2020 | Formosa Group | "The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners VR Game Soundtrack" |
| 2020 | Dionne Warwick (with Diane Reeves) | "Dionne Warwick And The Voices Of Christmas" |
| 2021 | Judy Wexler | "Back To The Garden" |
| 2021 | Ryan Christopher | "My Time" |
| 2021 | Heather Youmans | "Worth It" Single |
| 2022 | Lennie Revel | "Unbroken" |
| 2023 | Marcus Wolf | "Whiteoak" |
| 2023 | Bob Schlesinger with Mike Stern and Eddie Gomez | "Falling From Earth" |
| 2023 | Jill Desiree | "Sounds Like Music" |
| 2024 | Heather Youmans | "Less Of A Woman" Single |
| 2024 | Marcus Eley | "HOMAGE" |
| 2024 | Bevan Manson Featuring Tierney Sutton | "Talking To Trees" |
| 2024 | Bevan Manson | "When The Cup Is Lifted" |
| 2025 | Judy Wexler | "No Wonder" |
| 2025 | Jim Oblon | "Live From Aspen's Place" |
| 2025 | Nnenna Freelon | "Beneath The Skin" |