Hazeltine, David

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Hazeltine, David

Hazeltine, David, jazz pianist, organist; b. Milwaukee, Wise, Oct. 27, 1958. He made his professional debut at age 13 in clubs in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis. He was an immediate convert to Buddy Montgomery when he first heard him at the Bombay Bicycle Room around 1976. He was Co-founder/Director of the Jazz School in Milwaukee (1984–85) and the head of Jazz Studies at Wise. Cons, of Music (1985–92). Meanwhile he served as house pianist at the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery working with Charles McPherson, Eddie Harris, Sonny Stitt, Pepper Adams, and Chet Baker. Baker encouraged him to make the move in 1992 to N.Y., where he is in constant demand. A member of the Louis Hayes Quintet, he also holds the piano chair in Slide Hampton’s Jazz Masters Big Band as well as touring with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band under the leadership of Jon Faddis. He also serves as Music Director for singer Marlena Shaw and often accompanies Allan Harris.

Discography

Four Flights Up (1995); Classic Trio (1997); How It Is (1998); A World for Her (1999).

—Lewis Porter