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John Hadfield

As a composer, drummer and percussionist, John Hadfield’s dedication to music has taken him from his native Missouri to concert halls and clubs across the world. He has released four albums of his own compositions and has composed for many projects, including Heard By Others, a duo project with Lenny Pickett, Believers a trio with Brad Shepik and Sam Minaie, and For James a duo with Ron Blake. Hadfield also composed and performed in Apologue 2047, a multimedia performance art piece directed by Zhang Yimou which explored themes of the relationships of humans and technology. 

John’s diverse abelites have allowed him to perform with the Saturday Night Live Band, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Silk Road Ensemble. He has collaborated on more than 100 recordings, including GRAMMY award winning and nominated albums.


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Radio & Podcasts

A Few of My Favorite 2023 Jazz Things (so far) - Part 3

Read "A Few of My Favorite 2023 Jazz Things (so far) - Part 3" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Last week we focused our playlist on some of our favorite tracks from the first six months of 2023. Evidently two hours were not enough and we could not play them all... so here we are going through the rest of the best.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Vicente Archer “Bye Nashville" Short Stories (Cellar Live) 0:16 Host talks 5:02 Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Damien Varaillon, Stéphane Adsuar ...

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Album Review

Brian Landrus: Red List

Read "Red List" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Saxophonist Brian Landrus created this project with a purpose summed up in its subtitle, Music Dedicated to the Preservation of our Endangered Species. The album was made to create awareness about all the animal species on Earth in danger of extinction, thirteen of which are explicitly referenced here. For most of these, such as the Malayan tiger and the snow leopard, only a few hundreds or thousands are still alive. For the Javan rhino, there were only 67 left at ...

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Album Review

Brian Landrus: Red List

Read "Red List" reviewed by Jack Bowers


No matter how one receives his music, there is no doubt that woodwind specialist Brian Landrus' heart is in the right place. Red List, his eleventh album as leader, is dedicated to the preservation of Earth's endangered animal species. Landrus names thirteen, at least five of which--the kakapo, Malayan tiger, gharial, vaquita and Javan rhino--are all but gone, with less than three hundred of each species remaining. In fact, it is estimated that only eight vaquitas (a species of porpoise ...

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Album Review

Atlantico: A Stovepipe Hat Made From Silk

Read "A Stovepipe Hat Made From Silk" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


This album by the European/American quartet Atlantico co-led by French jazz pianist Sebastien Paindestre and U.S. reed and woodwind player Dave Schroeder completes the band's planned triptych, following New Easter Island (La Fabrica'son, 2019). For this sequel they are joined by acoustic bassist Mike Richmond (replacing Martin Wind) and drummer John Hadfield (replacing Billy Drummond). Tenor saxophonist Billy Drewes (who had played on one track on the last outing) guests on four tracks, expanding the group to a quintet.

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Album Review

Believers: Believers

Read "Believers" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


The three individuals making up Believers are each highly respected musical voices in their own right. Percussionist John Hadfield has performed and recorded with the likes of Nguyen Le and released an inspired duo EP with woodwind autodidact Lenny Pickett, called Heard by Others (Orenda Records, 2020). Sam Minaie, on the other hand, has played bass for household names such as piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan and the charming jazz-pop icon Melody Gardot. Which brings us to the last protagonist completing ...

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TIME OUT NEW YORK has noted, “John Hadfield's percussion is so impeccable" and   MODERN DRUMMER featured him in an article stating, "Hadfield delivers a fluid groove, strong yet never intrusize, punctuated by adroitly chosen accents. His skillful sound-weaving choices create the illusion of a seamless multi-percussion section." 

 

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Drum of Stories

In A Circle Records
2023

buy

Red List

Palmetto Records
2022

buy

John Hadfield's Paris...

OutNote Records
2022

buy

Believers

Orenda Records
2021

buy

A Stovepipe Hat Made...

La Fabrica'son
2021

buy

Heard by Others

Orenda Records
2020

buy

Canopy of Trees

From: Red List
By John Hadfield

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