MidCentury Modern is a winning trifecta - the complete Gabriel - a seamless melding of straight ahead, contemporary, and NOLA styles. It is a trifecta of jazz where the sum is greater than the parts! This is a cohesive album nonetheless, with classic tunes featuring erudite and extensive soloing; beautiful ballads that coax out a hidden melancholy; and exuberant New Orleans flavors that get the party started.
"If you are a Grammy voter, please consider Gabriel Mark
Hasselbach if voting in 'Best Jazz Instrumental Album' and 'Best
Improvised Jazz Solo'"
This album is made up of classics culled from the discographies of Blue Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Gordon, Benny Golson, Miles Davis, Nat Cole, plus a few choice originals (Comin' Home for Mardi Gras and UberSmooth).
The stars are aligned: Gabriel Mark Hasselbach - trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, valve trombone, vocal on Comin' Home for Mardi Gras
Ernie Watts- tenor on Terra Firma Irma; Cory Weeds - tenor on Blues On My Mind; Miles Black - piano; Joel Fountain - drums; Laurence Mollerup - dbl bass; Mike Taylor - vocal on Nature Boy; Olaf deShield on Mississippi Jump (radio mix).
Gabriel has a plethora of awards, NINE Billboard hits, and Album of the Year + Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and 3 JUNO Awards (Canadian version of a Grammy).
TO DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE MIDCENTURY MODERN Vol. 1 in 320kbps MP3 (with artwork) click here:
Lots of Vancouverites are down here in NOLA for Jazz Fest! I’m playing the New Orleans Jazz Museum theatre today at 2pm CT.... it will be streamed live so find it on the web (url on poster) if you aren’t down here.... I will be playing material from my brand new cd MidCentury Modern which was just released yesterday:
Thanks for taking him under your wing and being so supportive!!
Since we are not going for adds on Mississippi Jump until May 14 (we love those ‘most added’ rushes!), I thought I’d send you download links for my past hits to flesh out your rotation catalog and to help your listeners get to know me better.
This is an exciting project for me because I was finally able to assemble my dream team. Besides the recognizable and prolific talents of saxists Ernie Watts and Cory Weeds, I was able to gather my longtime friends and world-class musicians Miles Black (piano), Laurence Mollerup (bass), and Joel Fountain (drums). Adding to the proceedings are Mike Taylor(vocal) and Olaf deShield (guitar) on a couple of tunes.
Jazz is in my blood, and I am sure I will die clutching my horn to my chest. I've been on this path for most of my life, which really started in 3rd-grade summer band. That year we recorded a vinyl record as a fundraiser, and there the die was cast.
My music teachers were all working jazz musicians and somehow I absorbed the Jazz Spirit, and fueled the fire in my belly that stuck with me all these years. I didn’t choose jazz, it chose me.
As a preteen and teen I'd listen under the bedsheets to late night jazz broadcasts from New York, Chicago, and St Louis. By age 14 I was emulating what I had been hearing, playing semi-professionally in restaurants, lounges, and Battle of the Band competitions. After high school, I hit the road, performing throughout the Midwest playing mostly R&B, and getting my schooling from older musicians who were kind enough to take me under their collective wing. I started playing the flute around that time, searching for another sound to add to my creative toolbag, and I put in some serious time on both horns.
I had a good five year run as a seminal member of the award-winning Powder Blues, received gold and platinum album awards, and toured Europe, the US, and every nook and cranny of Canada.
Trumpeters are often one of the last to get hired, so I took matters into my own hands and began to develop bandleader and promotional skills to create what is now called a 'brand'.
My interest in audio, graphics and video developed alongside my musical skills, so recording projects became sort of a one-stop cottage industry for me to express myself without having to rely on major record labels and music managers. In the end I developed a large catalog and I own all my master recordings, unlike many major label artists, whose product is unavailable or can't be promoted for contractual reasons. My discography includes two mainstream JazzWeek charting albums, but most have been contemporary jazz projects that have garnered quite a few Billboard hits. I always strive for strong, lyrical and succinct jazz content in whatever styles I pursue, and I choose sidemen that feel that way, too.
That brings me to the present. Although I spend most of my time in Vancouver, I also work out of Phoenix and New Orleans where I have residences. Arizona has a few pockets of jazz activity (and some great internet jazz station gurus), but the influence of the French Quarter in NOLA unleashed a previously untapped creative flow in my jazz vision, which is evident here.
MidCentury Modern is an homage to the magic and passion of the classic jazz, cars, architecture, and movies of the mid 20th century. Except for a few originals, I chose timeless crossover songs from my most influential trumpet artists. This album is the 'complete me', a seamless melding of straight ahead, contemporary, and NOLA styles- a trifecta of jazz where the sum is greater than the parts!
Gabriel Mark Hasselbach has been a jazzer all his life and grew up listening to late night jazz radio shows featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Blue Mitchell, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, and Chet Baker.
Here are a few tunes to stream from his JazzWeek charting albums Come Out Swingin' and Swingin' Affair and some live videos, including Night in Tunisia, that tell his story:
Food available in the lounge but is a limited menu from Izba Bistro in the hotel.
IF YOU CAN'T MAKE THE CROSSROADS EVENT, DON'T FORGET FRIDAY DEC 2 AT THE PINNACLE ON THE PIER (FEAT. ALITA DUPRAY) AND THE SYLVIA HOTEL JAZZ JAM!
INTERNATIONAL A & R:
"Look out Rick Braun. Move over Chris Botti. Gabriel Mark Hasselbach is a talent to be reckoned with." Joseph Bertie The Warner Music Group
From a Superstar:
Gabriel Mark Hasselbach's new CD "Open Invitation" on which he wrote all the tunes and plays trumpet, flugel, alto and C flutes, ‘valve bone, and EVI, is a tour de force of arranging and production. Each tune also features a famous guest artist all of whom fit perfectly into the picture. Gabriel sounds great on everything.... no easy task, and should be really proud of this one! You'll find yourself humming these tunes when you least expect it! ....... Randy Brecker
From Switzerland:
Gabriel - Open Invitation (2014) “Trumpet player Gabriel Mark Hasselbach - or just ‘Gabriel’ - comes up with an awesome album full of memorable tracks and tons of first-rate guest players, like Bob Mintzer, Bob Baldwin, Greg Manning and many others. The music is groovy and offers a lot of variety, the musicianship is on a high level, and the smooth trumpet and flugelhorn playing of the leader holds it all together. Great stuff!” ~ Peter BoehiSmoothvibes.com Switzerland
From Germany:
“With Open Invitation it becomes apparent that Gabriel needn't shy away from comparison with any other trumpeter in the world.” Hans-Bernd Hülsmann, Smooth-Jazz.de
From Belgium:
"An open invitation to get acquainted with Gabriel’s music.... It’s been 3 years since I reviewed Gabriel’s latest album ‘Kissed by the Sun’ here, and for this new one he set to top that. Next to his fiery trumpet and spacious flute, he gave other musicians the opportunity to help him, and those are keyboardists Greg Manning, Bob Baldwin and Cal Harris Jr., Bob Mintzer (Yellowjackets sax), Rock Hendricks (Paul Hardcastle sax), as well as breakout stars such as guitarists Adam Rohrlick and Olaf deShield. Opener and second single ‘Count Me In’ features guitarist Adam Rohrlick and Gabriel blows a laidback groove. The first single ‘Propulsion’ features Greg Manning on piano and landed in the top 15. The title track is a really smooth tune with Cal Harris Jr. on keyboards, while ‘Init2Winit’ is a happy song. On ‘Charmed Life’ you can hear the piano of Bob Baldwin, while romance is in the air on the ballad ‘Lovelight’ with vocalists Dee & Brittani Cole. After that comes ‘Let’s Do This Thang’ with Olaf deShield on guitar, but it’s the latinesque ‘Let It Slide’ with sax man Bob Mintzer that turns it funky. ‘Aurora Borealis’ is more relaxed, and Gabriel takes us to the islands with ‘Carte Blanche’. Indeed, a nice melodic album, that shows Gabriel’s versatility. There’s not a bad track here!" Patrick Van de Wielehttp://www.smoothjazz.eu/
It is also the start of the Holiday Season, so replenish your holiday programming with the sumptuous sound of Gabriel's flugelhorn, as it weaves a tapestry of holiday warmth with 'Christmastime Is Here'. This song is the touchstone of Gabriel's Holiday Notes cd, available at Windtunnel Records as download or disc.
This enduring rendition of the classic song was made famous in the timeless Charlie Brown Christmas specials. Production includes Miles Black on keys and bass, and Tony Chamberlist on percussion. A very smooth way to slip into the Holiday Season!
Download the broadcast ready mp3 or wav files below!
