Tom Hazleton: The Art of Theatre Organ Improvisation

[alexthewurlitzerman]

We met Tom at the Rodgers dealer in San Francisco, CA in the mid 70's. He invited us the next day to a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock in LA. We went!!!!! How wonderful was his performance, as well as his generosity. What a gifted human to say the least. We are thankful for the priviledge to have known him. Alex Asble, RN

[TheOzzieJohnFerguson]

Tom was so musical, thank you for posting.

[lotsabirds]

I was lucky enough to perform with Tom several times when he played at Allen Organ in Macungie, PA. He was a great deal of fun to work with! AND...he was Brilliant!

[AtlantisWaterMiracle]

Thank you for uploading this. I am Tom's son Nick and it truly is an honor knowing him. Although many knew him to be a musical genius... he had a wonderful sense of humor and loved his family. Even though I knew how talented he was when he was alive, I appreciate it a lot more now, listening to this recording. Thank you very much

[musicaorganum]

I miss Tom. He truly was a great organist of both classical and theatre. I have some footage of Tom playing both classical and theatre organs. I am sure that others do as well. It would be nice if we could all compile our videos/clips together and make some sort of DVD of Tom. It's just a thought.

[hgarland]

@musicaorganum

We all miss him! Anything that you could upload to YouTube would be wonderful.

[musicaorganum]

@hgarland The recordings were made quite a while ago, and thus are on a video cassette tape. I will have to have them transferred to a DVD.

[JoePeterzak]

Guys, listen to the quality of the sound on this video. Dam, the organ's pipes sound so clear and concise.  Love it! The mikes for this recording must have been located next to the chambers, not way back in the room like most Theatre Organ recordings. This is audiophile quality.

[56Packman]

Great--Tom was a good friend, and is missed. He was truly one of the very best at theatre or classical organ. The instrument sounds wonderful under his touch.

[garyian1970]

Hi hgarland. Do you know where the organ was at the time of recording, and if it still exists?

Gary

[hgarland]

The organ is at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

[wurli815]

What a beautiful treatment of the song "That's All". Thanks for posting.

[klavier1us]

This rendering of "That's All" amply demonstrates Hazeltons mastery over the instrument. The best TO players can play the tunes many ways while taking full advantage of the instruments breadth of voices. I hope more of this artisans work will make it into YT posts. Thanks for this great post.