Written interview with trumpeter, flugelhornist, flutist, and valve trombonist Gabriel Mark Hasselbach – MidCentury Modern, Vol. 4
Jazz Blues European Union: – Thank you for taking the time to have this interview with Jazz Blues EU. Tell us about your music. When did you start performing?
Gabriel Mark Hasselbach: – I was a music room nerd in elementary and high school. While everyone else was out at sports –playing or watching- I was in the band room jamming, performing at a Battle of the Bands, or playing jazz in a restaurant. I made my first vinyl record at age 8 as part of a school summer band program in Denver. Auspiciously, I was front and center on the album cover.
What do you consider to be your hometown and how does that affect your music?
Although I was born in Denver, Colorado, and lived in New Orleans, Louisiana (in the French Quarter), I consider Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver area) as my forever hometown. I found my niche here, first in the abundance of jazz clubs that were here when I first came, then with the multiplatinum Powder Blues Band, with which I toured the world, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Fest, and some spots in the UK. After I departed from that band my career started to take off with my first solo release (on Polydor) generating a series of 20 albums over the years, leading to 11
Billboard Hits, 3 JazzWeek hits, Album of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year Awards, JUNO Awards, and concerts on almost every continent, including S. Africa, Portugal, Mexico, the Beijing Olympics and the home of Bill Gates.
What performers have been your inspiration?
As mentioned I was born and raised in the midwest, Denver, which is known as the Mile High City, where radio waves from the East Coast would bounce off the ionosphere, emanating from a time zone two hours prior. When I was a ‘tween and older, I listened under the covers on a little 12 transistor radio to classic jazz icons, organ trios and souljazz bands. I was hooked!
What do you find most challenging about being an independent artist in today’s music industry?
The lack of live music venues and the decrease of public awareness and understanding of the artform and mechanics of music performance, especially by the younger crowd is a problem. Adding to that, young passionate musicians are still coming up through the colleges- but with no places to play (that pay much)- they get steered into the education system, which is getting cut back everywhere anyway. Without a history and development of that culture, especially since covid, music has become an oddity to many, only digestible on a grand scale with a mass of peers in attendance. The appreciation of instrumental music is almost non existent because it is so rare and experienced so seldom, especially live.
However, I have been fortunate to have a 5 year (so far) jazz residency here in my city of Burnaby. I don’t teach privately, but every time I perform, I make it my mission to give exposure on my stage to young players and mentor those where I can. I wrote a little handbook for trumpeters- newbies and restarters alike- to get them up and running properly, sans bad habits. It is on Amazon, called TopTip Masterclass for Jazz Trumpet, and is available here: https://toptipmasterclass.com/products/top-tip-master-class-jazz-trumpet-bygabriel-mark-hasselbach
What do you base your success on?
I have a few bon mots and adages that I live by: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” “Keep your eye on the prize” “Never let them see you sweat” “The devil is in the details” “Your reputation is your currency”
“Keep your health in check and life in balance” “Always take the high road” “Reinvent, don’t just copy”
“Have faith and trust in yourself” “Stay organized and goal oriented” “Support others the way you want to be supported” “Be generous with your time and money, and it will all flow back in spades” “You meet the same people on the way up as on the way down, so be nice!”
Can you talk about your experiences collaborating with other artists or musicians? How does it influence your creative process? How do you approach the process of songwriting, and are there any specific themes or emotions you tend to explore in your music?
I am very creative in many fields, I am a skilled recording engineer and editor, a decent video editor and graphic artist, improviser, and bandleader. I have an open heart and am in touch with my ‘gut’, so I can really get rolling when I invite my Muse in. As far as writing goes, I work best as a foil for others. For example on my contemporary jazz albums, my workflow when working together is the most inspired when I respond naturally to ideas that others lay down (Jeff Lorber, Miles Black, Lew Laing, Glenn Charles Riley, etc). I often just start by hitting ‘record’ and playing over some song ideas without pretense… just letting it flow and inviting the Muse to speak. Typically, that very first take has lots of
keeper parts, and the lead melody often comes out of that bundle of unbridled improv of what I am hearing and feeling.
What role does technology and social media play in promoting your music and connecting with your audience?
My most important instrument is the computer, whether laptop, ipad, or phone. Make music, take performance video, record albums, stay in touch, create gigs, and use it to create, create, create. The physical instruments go hand in hand, but neither stands alone.
Could you describe a memorable live performance experience or tour that has had a lasting impact on you and your music?
There is not one thing that stands out, but I have played before crowds of 20,000, and 20, and both have been memorable in their own ways. I played on top of a glacier. I played the Bob James Cruise with Fourplay and Michael McDonald. I played the Maui Jazz fest with my own band and also with Larry
Coryell (RIP). I played all the cool venues in New Orleans, such as the NOLA Jazz Museum, Spotted Cat, French Quarter Festival, and Snug Harbor. Played all together on the same stage with and all star awards show band made up of David Sanborn, Peter White, Brian Culbertson, Paul Brown, Brian Simpson,
Dave Koz, Mindy Abair, Michael Lington, Steve Oliver, Jessy J, Greg Adams, Rick Braun, Darren Rahn, Marc Antoine, etc.
In an era of streaming platforms, how do you feel about the changing landscape of music consumption and its impact on independent musicians?
It is always a double edge sword. MP3s (and the internet) basically killed the record company model but gave musicians everywhere a way to share their music. Downloading (as opposed to streaming) music from a company was ok because you made a few bucks for an album download, ditto with CD sales.
However streaming platforms took a turn for the worse when they decided to not pay a fair streaming rate to musicians. One stream on SiriusXM pays the same as 15,000 streams on Sp_fy. CDs don’t sell anymore, mostly because there are no players in cars.. But, I like that I can hear something unfamiliar, Shazam it, open it in Apple Music, and listen to the whole album instantly. I guess I’ll have my cake and eat it too.
Musicians often have a close relationship with their fanbase. How do you engage with your fans and build a dedicated community around your music?
I do lots of social media, around music, lifestyle, and politics, to try to keep my fans (and friends) engaged. It’s not (supposed to be) all about me, but when promoting your passion and skillset, it is hard not to come across that way. I make a point to listen well to what people say to me, and to the music, and not to always talk shop and music. I know my crowd pretty well and they seem to take my inundation of posts and reels pretty well, and show up. I try to stay real and make a ‘humble brag’ bearable to others, because who can tell your story better than yourself? I’ll be telling about this interview and my new association with the EuroJazz crowd here. I recently returned from Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, and
want to return and play more festivals.
How can fans find you? Lastly, please share some final words with the fans.
I designed my own website at www.GabrielJazz.com and www.GabrielJazzTrumpet.jp and it has been suggested to me to make them simpler. That’s a tough call for me, because there is never too much information if it is presented right, and I do have a lot of content. So I settled for having a linktree directory splash page and lots of hidden stuff once you dig in. But you can always find where I am playing, and get a sense of my deep respect for jazz in all its forms.
Jazz Chill review sums me up: What ties the different sides of Hasselbach’s work together is his refusal to treat straight-ahead and contemporary jazz as opposing worlds. For him, they are simply different expressions of the same musical foundation.
Gabriel Mark Hasselbach: Midcentury Modern Vol 4 by George W. Harris • September 17, 2026 • JazzWeekly. Playing trumpet, flute, flugelhorn and even singing, Gabriel Mark Hasselbach gives a
salute to the hard bop sounds of Blue Noters Horace Silver and Art Blakey and their associated horn men (Hubbard, Morgan, Brown, Mitchell) on this fun release. He’s got a rich tone of his own, clear and collected on “ Terra Firma Irma” with his sound hinting at Kenny Dorham on Joel Fountain’s drums on the grooving “Chicks’ Tune”. The rest of the core team of Lawrence Mollerup/b and Miles Black/p give some bluesy swagger to “Superblue” and boogaloo with all get out on “Jazz’n’ Samba”. Some muted horn and deft brush works well on a hip read of the classic “So What…Now?” while the leader goes into
his Satchmo mode for a fun “Mississippi Jump”. Braggin in brass.
A review by Randy Brecker / 7 time Grammy Recording Artist Gabriel Mark Hasselbach has done it again, exploring the realms of Modern Jazz and Bebop with a Contemporary slant and a first rate cast of characters with ‘MidCentury Modern Vol 4’. Very artfully executed and quite easily enjoyable from start to finish!
Russell Trunk at Exclusive Magazine wrote a detailed song-by-song review of MidCentury Modern Vol. 4, and it is loaded with glowing superlatives: … upbeat and perky … free-flowing …. a dutiful hipsway….. strident fare …. emotively sculpted …. triumphant ….. toe-tapping delights …. cultured …. vibrantly affecting … veritably cinematic …. fleet of foot ….. flirtatiously infectious…. euphorically-charged …. studious and rhythmic gem …. sumptuous ….piano-imbibed decadence …. furtively pulsing …. a hued beauty (!)
O’s Place review: Gabriel Mark Hasselbach – MidCentury Modern Vol. 4 Rating 82 O’s Notes: Canadian trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach returns to traditional jazz with the 4th Volume of MidCentury Modern. He leads a core band with Miles Black (p), Lawrence Mollerup (b), and Joel Fountain (d). We liked “Terra Firma Irma”, the swing of “Driftin’” with Cory Weeds (t-sax), and “So What … Now?” Hasselbach changes the lineup on a couple of tracks, first “Funk In Deepfreeze” bringing in Jeff Lorber (p), Chuck Loeb (g), Brian Bromberg (b), and Gary Novak (d), then Hasselbach sings with Deborah Carter on “Jazz Party” along with Glenn Riley (b) and Paul Driver (d). We’re just talking about the 15 tracks on the CD. There are 5 bonus tracks (16-20) online, that add to the party.
Streaming link to all DSPs: https://lnk.to/KUeVK2 Videos: Mamacita https://youtu.be/-CqvQGzz5CIYT
Superblue https://youtu.be/T_Z9kCHTjjg?si=RGtWg1VZbk7M2Uvi Terra Firma Irma https://youtu.be/AGqNR8b2EvM?si=uJmvRoUoA9_BLwKp Jazz’n’Samba https://youtu.be/T1meO3jwAVM Mississippi Jump https://youtu.be/ynoBvAqTihk
Personnel: https://tinyurl.com/3rthujsd
