"I have been a musician since a young kid (5 years old)---almost all self-taught--piano, composition. At age 11, back in the mid-1950s, taught myself to play blues and boogie woogie piano after listening to records by Hadda Brooks and Red Prysock. I also love improvised music--always have---along with all the subtle inuendos and voicings of jazz. I approach most situations with this philosophy." PATRICK HAZELL
Though blues and boogies have been Patrick Hazell's musical base throughout his career, at any time during a performance he is likely to extend his playing into a number of directions that reflect various musical interests from classical and new music to folk and world traditions. As an example of his diverse musical interests, since 2003, his musical focus has been upon his unique and original creation, the Bell Projects, in which he utilizes large bells found in churches and public buildings within a concentrated area of a town for a composed hour-long bell ringing event. Also, during this time, he has made several tours to west-central Russia where he not only produced a Bell Project utilizing Russian Orthodox Church Bells and the bells of a 200 year-old armaments factory, but he also immersed himself into the Finno-Ugric culture he found there while performing with Udmurtian Folk musicians in concerts and workshops.
Stateside, Hazell has played music professionally since 1961. His touring band in the 70s-early 80s was one of the most popular touring blues bands in Midwestern USA winning several "Top Band" Prairie Sun Awards in a seven-state readers poll.
Hazell went solo in 1983, continued to tour extensively in Midwestern USA while expanding his routing to include regular tours to Europe and South America. As a soloist, until 2005, Hazell performed as one-man-band playing a Yamaha Electric Grand piano, Korg organ, a 20" Gretsch Bass Drum, ankle shaker, and Harmonica on a rack. In the present time he performs on acoustic piano while singing, playing a rack-mounted harmonica, and keeping time with the ankle shaker (four film canisters half-filled with copper BBs).
Inducted into the IOWA BLUES HALL of FAME in 2000 and the IOWA ROCK'N'ROLL HALL of FAME in 2007, Hazell is also a member of the National Academy of Recording Artists (Grammy Awards), affiliated with BMI (Broadcast Musicians Incorporated), and a harmonica player recognized by the Hohner Company as an Official Endorsee of their world-famous Harmonicas. As of 2006, he has recorded over 35 albums of mostly original material plus has recorded on dozens of other albums.
"Hazell's tunes simutaneously evoke the boogie piano masters such as Henry Gray and the harp magnitude of Little Walter-- meaty licks and great singing." ---------BLUES REVUE
"This dude plays his Damned Ass off people, I know of no other way of putting it and for this reason I give him a (5) HARP Salute before I go any further. Patrick plays piano with a harmonica in a neck holder, but his harp is super-duperly amplified and it talks pure trash, I mean street walking -shit talking stuff."----------- Steve"Big Daddy BluzHarp"Harvell "BluzHarp's" Recommended Bluz Recordings
"(HAZELL'S) rhythmic drive is superlative while his sound and style is highly reminiscent of Memphis one-man bands like Doctor Ross or Joe Hill Louis. His raspy harp and vocals.are fortified with strong material, an unrelenting beat and sensational ambience as he ekes out a piece of blues turf that hasn't been occupied in a very long timeIn the current white boy blues community where seemingly every street corner has five people on it with shades, pleated pants and heat-up Stratocasters in hand, Patrick Hazell stands out as something very unique and cool. -----------CUB KODA, GOLDMINE MAGAZINE
"(Hazell) sings the Blues really dirty - so dirty that you get the strangest feelings. If you ever tried to play the harmonica, that seemingly harmless child's instrument, and now listen to Pat's Blues harp you will get the impression of having arrived on another planet. Blues fans who have listened to all sorts of players, from Sammy Lewis, Little Walter Jacobs and James Cotton (The Sun Studio era) to Junior Wells, Sugar Blue and Kim Wilson, will recognize from this CD, that Pat Hazell belongs to the big ones. His voice is as black as a night in the deep south of the United States of America." ---------- DAGMAR FULLE, GERMAN NATIONAL RADIO, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
In addition to appearing in many festivals through the years, PATRICK HAZELL has also headlined concerts in the United States, Europe, and South America. He has also shared concert billings with Led Zepplin, Jefferson Airplane (pre-Starship), Tony Williams, Grass Roots, Baby Huey and the Baby Sitters, Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, John Hammond, James Cotton, Tom Robinson Band, John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, Eddie Harris, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Maria Muldaur, Lonnie Brooks, George Thorogood, Taj Mahal, Suzy Bogguss, Clifton Chenier, Sugar Blue, NRBQ, Asleep At The Wheel, Mose Allison, Queen Ida, Tommy Castro, Troy Davis, Janiva Magness, Palito Miranda, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, Albert Collins, Frankfurt City Blues Band, Robert Cray, and many others.
FOR MORE MP3 SONG DOWNLOADS AND INFORMATION please go to WWW.PATRICKHAZELL.COM,CLICK HERE
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TO PURCHASE A PATRICK HAZELL CD, please go to PATRICK HAZELL'S pages on CD BABY.COM: CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE to check out these PODCASTS featuring Patrick Hazell recorded in July 2007 and podcast on www.Cornsong.com
CLICK HERE to hear PATRICK HAZELL play and talk about his music
CLICK HERE to hear more about his music and the blues as a constant background
CLICK HERE to listen to about his experiences on the SIBERIAN HIGHWAY and the October 2007 return tour and concert series
CLICK HERE to hear HAZELL"S Boogie improv of the IOWA CORNSONG
Patrick Hazell Hawkeye Valley Bell Project 9-25-05
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