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Ken Hatfield

Described as “a veritable Picasso of the jazz guitar world” (20th Century Guitar), and “one of the most skilled, creative, and original guitarist/composers currently recording” (Acoustic Guitar), nylon-string guitarist Ken Hatfield is known for his formidable fingerstyle technique and original compositional voice that draws on influences as diverse as jazz, classical, Brazilian, and Appalachian music. His important contributions as a composer have earned him wide recognition, including the prestigious ASCAP Foundation Jazz Vanguard Award for “innovative and distinctive music that is charting new directions in jazz” (2006).

Hatfield’s nine CDs as a leader demonstrate his tremendous gifts as both composer and performer and attest to his consistently high level of artistry. 2006’s String Theory, which highlights Hatfield’s technical virtuosity and versatility as he performs a group of original works composed for classical guitar, dobro, and mandolin, was lauded by Andy Ellis in Guitar Player for its “fresh guitar sounds and novel concepts” and “brainy, dynamic, and relentlessly melodic” playing. His 2003 trio release The Surrealist Table was described by Ron Forbes-Roberts in Acoustic Guitar as “. . . an empathetic session brimming with beautifully realized musical ideas and stellar playing” and was chosen by Bill Milkowski in JAZZIZ as one of the top 20 acoustic guitar albums to have. And Hatfield’s 2002 ensemble recording Phoenix Rising was “Recommended for those with an affinity for the subtle and sublime” by Jim Ferguson in JazzTimes. Ken’s most recent and most ambitious recording project, For Langston, is a jazz song cycle for sextet in which he set to music poems by Langston Hughes (release date 2/1/13).

Arthur Circle Music has published five books of Hatfield’s compositions, and in 2005 Mel Bay published his comprehensive instructional book Jazz and the Classical Guitar: Theory and Application, designed to demonstrate Ken’s unique approach to playing jazz on a classical guitar. His compositions and writings have also appeared in numerous jazz and guitar publications, including DownBeat, Acoustic Guitar, Just Jazz Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, and others.

In addition to composing jazz works for his own ensembles, he has written chamber pieces that range from solo classical guitar to string quartet and mixed ensembles of various sizes. He has composed choral works and ballet scores, including commissioned works for Judith Jamison, The Washington Ballet Company, and the Maurice Béjart Ballet Company. And he has written scores for television and film, including Eugene Richards’ award-winning documentary but, the day came.

Ken has performed as a solo artist and with his ensembles in a variety of venues ranging from prestigious international festivals to intimate jazz clubs, including the JVC Jazz Festival, the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival, the Classic American Guitar Show, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Harrison Opera House, the Smithsonian Jazz Café, the Knitting Factory, and 55Bar. He has performed and/or recorded with artists as diverse as Charlie Byrd, Jack McDuff, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy McGriff, Melissa Manchester, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Stephanie Mills, Linda Hopkins, Billy Daniels, Pat Benatar, Maurice Hines, Charles Aznavour, Bob Cranshaw, Grady Tate, Harold Mabern, Brian Torff, Marcus Miller, Kenny Kirkland, Dom Salvador, João Donato, Claudio Roditi, Lew Tabackin, Kenny Werner, Ben E. King, Eddie Kendricks, Marlena Shaw, Vivian Reed, Z.Z. Hill, and Toni Braxton.

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230
Album Review

Ken Hatfield and Friends: To be Continued...

Read "To be Continued..." reviewed by Elliott Simon


Ken Hatfield is a virtuoso on his chosen instrument, the nylon-stringed classical guitar, and has showcased his abilities in environs including Appalachian, classical and jazz. Comfortable across genres, he and his instrument are well-suited for these Bill McCormick tunes born of multiple influences. This release is an outgrowth of a previous McCormick project, Music for Guitar (mPub, 2003), that featured music for the unaccompanied instrument. This time, pieces are written primarily for jazz ensemble, and if the current title is ...

138
Live Review

Tuesdays with Ken Hatfield

Read "Tuesdays with Ken Hatfield" reviewed by Budd Kopman


Ken HatfieldFetch Restaurant New York, NY May 2, 2006 What is fascinating and wonderful for the jazz lover in New York City is that high quality jazz can be found in many unexpected places such as restaurants. While you will not find a Big Band, small acoustic groups abound. One such venue is Fetch on Third Avenue and 92nd Street in Manhattan's Upper East Side. This is a real neighborhood place, ...

150
Album Review

Ken Hatfield: String Theory

Read "String Theory" reviewed by Budd Kopman


Ken Hatfield is an extremely complex and multifaceted individual, a philosopher-king, a musically omnivorous hillbilly--and yes, his last name comes from those Hatfields. The music on String Theory fully displays where Hatfield has been in his chronological and musical life. He emphatically refuses to be pinned down by any label, even an amorphous one like “jazz." He's equally at home in the worlds of classical guitar, Brazilian jazz, the blues and straight-ahead jazz (represented by standards ranging from “Emily" to ...

364
Book Review

Jazz and the Classical Guitar

Read "Jazz and the Classical Guitar" reviewed by Jim Santella


Ken HatfieldJazz and the Classical Guitar: Theory and ApplicationMel Bay Publications248 pages, softcover, spiralboundISBN: 07866723662005

Intended for serious music students, Ken Hatfield's book discusses harmonic theory in detail and offers the reader a thorough foundation for approaching jazz improvisation; either as a career, or for the pleasure of performing alone or with a group. While the book focuses on acoustic guitar, it's intended for anyone who already knows ...

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Multiple Reviews

Rolf Sturm: Shawangunk / Ken Hatfield: String Theory

Read "Rolf Sturm: Shawangunk / Ken Hatfield: String Theory" reviewed by Elliott Simon


Crystal-clear guitar is center stage on these two releases that feature experienced craftsmen artfully exposing the country and classical feel inherent in nylon strings. Ken Hatfield's String Theory is a classical gas dosed with sweet Appalachian honey, while Rolf Sturm's Shawangunk is a deft chordal/melodic encounter that reveals its spirit like a brilliant Hudson Valley morn.

Rolf Sturm Shawangunk Water Street Music 2005 Whether it is the Dead's “Ripple, played at ...

129
Album Review

Ken Hatfield: String Theory

Read "String Theory" reviewed by John Kelman


In a departure from previous albums like The Surrealist Table (Arthur Circle Music, 2003), guitarist Ken Hatfield leaves behind his Latin-inflected ensemble work on String Theory. On this strictly solo affair, Hatfield delivers something completely unexpected.

Classical guitar has been Hatfield's mainstay for some time, and his style references many of the trendsetters who have come before--the Latin side of Charlie Byrd, the abstract classical impressionism of Ralph Towner, and the mainstream focus of Lenny Breau. But from the first ...

160
Album Review

Ken Hatfield: String Theory

Read "String Theory" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Guitarist Ken Hatfield's Appalachian roots grow close to the surface on his sixth CD, String Theory, a spontaneous-sounding blend of of classical and country moods, with various themes drawn from some of the down-home sayings of Hatfield's 85 year-old father, Sam ("The Gospel According to Sam"), the fictions of Jorge Luis Borges ("Borges & I"), and modern physics on the title tune, a three-part suite for classical guitar and mandolin that sounds like a meeting of Chet Atkins and Ricky ...

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1

Recording

Guitarist/Composer Ken Hatfield Celebrates The Genius Of Harlem Renaissance Poet Langston Hughes With "For Langston", An Enthralling Song Cycle Drawn From His Blues-Steeped Verse

Guitarist/Composer Ken Hatfield Celebrates The Genius Of Harlem Renaissance Poet Langston Hughes With "For Langston", An Enthralling Song Cycle Drawn From His Blues-Steeped Verse

Source: Ken Hatfield

To Be Released February 1, 2013, Langston’s Birthday A supremely lyrical guitarist and award-winning composer with a deep love of literature, Ken Hatfield is always on the lookout for texts ripe for musical interpretation. He found an ideal muse in the great American poet Langston Hughes, whose rhythmically agile verse, marked by penetrating observations about love, life and politics, takes flight on For Langston, due out on Arthur Circle Music on February 1, 2013, Langston’s birthday. A chamber jazz work ...

22

Recording

Ken Hatfield Sextet's New Recording Project: For Langston

Ken Hatfield Sextet's New Recording Project:  For Langston

Source: Ken Hatfield

Award-winning composer and guitarist Ken Hatfield has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete the recording of his jazz song cycle “For Langston," in which he set to music poems by the great African-American poet Langston Hughes. This will be Hatfield's ninth recording project as a leader and his first to feature lyrics. In addition to Hatfield on guitar, the ensemble includes vocalist Hilary Gardner, Jamie Baum on alto flute, Hans Glawischnig on bass, Jeff Hirshfield on drums, ...

86

Recording

Guitarist/Composer Ken Hatfield Releases Solo Guitar CD "String Theory" On Arthur Circle Music

Guitarist/Composer Ken Hatfield Releases Solo Guitar CD "String Theory" On Arthur Circle Music

Source: All About Jazz

Fans have learned to expect the unexpected from jazz guitarist and composer KEN HATFIELD, whose sixth CD as a leader, String Theory (Arthur Circle Music), finds him in a reflective mood, playing a series of deeply personal multi-movement works on the nylon-stringed classical guitar, either solo or in intricate and beautiful duets with himself on mandolin and dobro. Hatfield's Appalachian roots are showing. Remember the famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys? Ken is one of those Hatfields. While ...

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Website

Meet Guitarist Ken Hatfield on the AAJ Bulletin Board

Meet Guitarist Ken Hatfield on the AAJ Bulletin Board

Source: All About Jazz


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Recording

Acclaimed Guitarist Ken Hatfield Showcases The Swinging Side Of Nylon-String Acoustic On 'The Surrealist Table'

Acclaimed Guitarist Ken Hatfield Showcases The Swinging Side Of Nylon-String Acoustic On 'The Surrealist Table'

Source: All About Jazz

Trio Features Jeff Hirshfield (drums) and Hans Glawischnig (bass)

On his fifth CD as a leader, The Surrealist Table (Arthur Circle Music), New York-based composer KEN HATFIELD showcases his impressive command of the nylon string acoustic guitar in a program of ten original works that run the stylistic gamut, from swinging to serene, and from harmonically-challenging vehicles to down-home blues and second line grooves. Paced by the swinging, highly interactive rhythm tandem of veteran jazz players Hans Glawischnig on bass ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

For Langston

Arthur Circle Music
2013

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To be Continued...

mPub Music
2009

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Etudes for Solo...

Arthur Circle Music
2009

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String Theory

Arthur Circle Music
2006

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The Surrealist Table

Arthur Circle Music
2004

buy

Phoenix Rising

Arthur Circle Music
2003

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Prelude 9

From: 12 Preludes for Solo Guitar
By Ken Hatfield

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