MidCentury Modern Vol. 2 is the follow-up to Gabriel Mark Hasselbach's powerful MCM Vol.1.
Vol. 2 re-enlists the same winning personnel as Vol. 1, and features Ernie Watts (tenor sax), Cory Weeds (tenor sax), Miles Black (piano), Laurence Mollerup (bass), Joel Fountain (drums), and Olaf deShield (guitar).
"I just had a chance to listen to Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s album “MidCentury Modern” and was astonished by all the great playing and great production values. Whether playing on a swing or funk tune, his great tone and impeccable phrasing comes through every time, like liquid gold. My favourite tracks are Mississippi Jump and Terra Firma, where he and Ernie Watts swing their buns off, and UberSmooth where Gabriel shows off his ability to make hearts melt. Gabriel Mark Hasselbach has outdone himself on this album."
Jeremy Monteiro - Singapore-based International jazz pianist/composer/author and EFG Bank International Arts Ambassador
"Very nicely done, adroitly performed and produced. Truly a high-level project." Rick Scott Great Scott P.R.oductions (unsolicited)
"Once again, Gabriel Mark Hasselbach has produced an album of fine jazz... he swings hard.... you can wrap yourself up in his music and feel warm and satisfied. It’s the fiery Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, on trumpet, (sometimes flute), that brings this project to a boil. He keeps the music alive and swinging throughout. Hasselbach always manages to insert bold funk and lovely melodies into productions that make you want to dance, sing and swing."
Wind Tunnel Records- The boutique jazz label, the home of Gabriel Mark Hasselbach
Gabriel's MidCentury Modern download page for NOLA radio programmers
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.
STREAM OR DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE MIDCENTURY MODERN Vol. 1 by track (320kbps MP3 with artwork) Click here:
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 guitar on Mississippi Jump (radio mix).
Gabriel has a plethora of awards, seven Billboard hits, and Album of the Year, Instrumentalist of the Year, and JUNO Awards.
CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO FOR MISSISSIPPI JUMP (radio edit) (shot in the Marigny NOLA)
And the content heavy Terra Firma Irma:
And the album version of Mississippi Jump:
Gabriel's New Orleans Street Party (concert stage)
You can find Gabriel's dozen or so albums under his own name in stores
and online. The largest selection of tracks and physical cds is at the
GabrielJazz.com store, with iTunes, Amazon, and CD Universe servicing
the online community. Gabriel's Holiday Notes now at iTunes too!
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:
