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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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Rachel Eckroth & John Hadfield, featuring Petros Klampanis: Olhos de Gato
by Katchie Cartwright
Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield were in Greece to record Speaking In Tongues (Adhyâropa Records, 2025). The freewheeling piano-drum duo found themselves with an extra day in Athens after finishing the recording, so they decided to enlist bassist Petros Klampanis for another little session, just for fun. No expectations, just a bit of free improvisation. At one point, they pulled out Carla Bley's “Olhos de Gato" (aka “Sad Song"). The piece is deep and beautiful, in the kind ...
Continue ReadingOlhos de Gato: John Hadfield and Friends
by Katchie Cartwright
In November, All About Jazz interviewed the prolific world-jazz percussionist John Hadfield. This edition of Caminhos do Jazz radio features Hadfield's latest single, a gorgeous rendition of Carla Bley's “Olhos de Gato" with pianist Rachel Eckroth and bassist Petros Klampanis (read review). The show also contains selections from a few of the many (100+) recordings in his discography, including his own Paris Quintet and albums with Kinan Azmeh's CityBand (read review), Rachel Eckroth (read review), and Brad Shepik (read review). ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hadfield: An Open Concept
by Katchie Cartwright
John Hadfield's sound is instantly recognizable, due in part to his unique drum kit, which reflects the musics he has studied and with which he continues to engage. Hadfield's formal degrees are in jazz (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and Western classical music (University of Missouri, Kansas City), but he also studied frame drumming and world percussion extensively with Jamey Haddad at The New School in New York. He trained in South Asian classical percussion with Ganesh Kumar and Subash ...
Continue ReadingRon Blake, feat. Reuben Rogers & John Hadfield: SCRATCH Band
by Jack Bowers
There several interesting features that single out saxophonist Ron Blake's new recording with what he refers to as his SCRATCH Band. First, the Puerto Rican-born Blake, best known for his work on tenor saxophone, plays baritone sax on five of the album's nine numbers, tenor sax on only three, tenor and soprano (separately) on one of his four original compositions, “Appointment." Second, the SCRATCH Band is actually a duo with bassist Reuben Rogers on four tracks, a trio with drummer ...
Continue ReadingBelievers: Hard Believer
by Vincenzo Roggero
Veterano della scena downtown newyorchese (da ricordare almeno il Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio, il quartetto Pachora con Jim Black, Chris Speed e Skuli Sverrisson, le collaborazioni con Carla Bley's Escalator Over the Hill, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra, le registrazioni con Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band o il Paradox Trio con Matt Darriau, Rufus Cappadocia e Seido Salifoski) il chitarrista Brad Shepik si è nel corso degli anni sempre più avvicinato alle musiche del mondo. Tutto ciò senza rinnegare la ...
Continue ReadingRachel Eckroth & John Hadfield: Speaking In Tongues
by Katchie Cartwright
John Hadfield wrote “Blood Moon" in shocked response to learning that, in 1504, during his fourth transatlantic voyage, Christopher Columbus had used his knowledge of an upcoming Blood Moon eclipse to manipulate reluctant indigenous Jamaicans into granting him food and supplies. The Jamaicans had been fooled before by Columbus' unfair trade practices and wanted no part of him, that is until he made them believe that it was his magic that had turned the moon a fiery red-orange and caused ...
Continue ReadingKinan Azmeh: Live in Berlin
by Frank Housh
Clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh occupies a unique space in the musical world. He is grew up with Western classical music and trained at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus as well as Juilliard, where he began his studies one week before the 9/11 attacks. His expansive and eclectic body of work includes compositions for orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, dance, film, and most recently, scoring 30 episodes of the Syrian-Lebanese TV series, “Nazret Hob" ("Look of ...
Continue ReadingTIME 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
Wedding
From: Live in BerlinBy John Hadfield
Saturn
From: SaturnBy John Hadfield
Dream of the Possible
From: Human Activity: Dream of the...By John Hadfield
Americannia
From: StrumBy John Hadfield
Videos
John Hadfield
Location: New York City
Instrument: Drums
