Hazel, Monk (Arthur)
Hazel, Monk (Arthur)
Hazel, Monk (Arthur), jazz drummer, cornetist, mellophonist; b. Harvey, La., Aug. 15, 1903; d. New Orleans, La., March 5, 1968. He originally specialized on drums (his father was a drummer). While still in his teens he gigged with Emmett Hardy, who gave him a cornet. He worked mainly on drums, but doubled on cornet throughout his career. During the 1920s he worked with many bandleaders in and around New Orleans. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, he led his own Bienville Roof Orch. in New Orleans; they recorded in 1928. After a stint in the early 1930s in N.Y., he toured as cornetist in vocalist Gene Austin’s band, ending up in Hollywood. During the later 1930s, he spent several years in Lloyd Danton’s Quintet until spending a year in the Army (1942–43). After service, he returned to New Orleans, where he supported himself as a truck driver. He worked with Sharkey Bonano in the late 1940s and then was inactive for a period in the 1950s due to illness; he returned to performing in the late 1950s with Bonano and other local leaders.
Discography
Monk Hazel (1954).
—John Chilton Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter