# Monk Hazel

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**Arthur Frank Hazel** (August 15, 1903, [Harvey, Louisiana](/source/Harvey,_Louisiana) - March 5, 1968, [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans), [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana)), better known as **Monk Hazel**, was a [jazz drummer](/source/Jazz_drumming) and [cornetist](/source/Cornet).[1]

## Career background

In addition to being a drummer, Hazel occasionally took solos [cornet](/source/Cornet) and [mellophone](/source/Mellophone). Hazel performed with several bandleaders in and around New Orleans in the 1920s, among them [Abbie Brunies](/source/Albert_Brunies), [Tony Parenti](/source/Tony_Parenti), Jules Bauduc, and [Johnny Wiggs](/source/Johnny_Wiggs).

Hazel's father was a drummer as well. Early on Monk played drums with [Emmett Hardy](/source/Emmett_Hardy), who gave him his first cornet, and then with [Stalebread Lacombe](/source/Stalebread_Lacombe). In the 1920s, Hazel worked with many bands including those led by [Abbie Brunies](/source/Abbie_Brunies) (the Halfway House Orchestra), [Tony Parenti](/source/Tony_Parenti) (with whom he recorded in 1928)[1] and [Johnny Wiggs](/source/Johnny_Wiggs).

From the late 1920s to the early 1930s, Hazel led his own Bienville Roof Orchestra[1] (which played atop the Bienville Hotel at Lee Circle, and made recordings in 1928) and then spent time in New York playing with Johnny Wiggs, [Jack Pettis](/source/Jack_Pettis) and with his own group (1929–31).

Hazel was in [Hollywood](/source/Hollywood,_Los_Angeles) for a period (working with [Gene Austin](/source/Gene_Austin)) but eventually came back to New Orleans, performing with [Joe Caprano](/source/Joe_Caprano) (1937) and the Lloyd Danton Quintet. Hazel spent 1942-43 in the Army and then worked for a time outside of music.

During his final 20 years, Hazel was once again active in New Orleans, recording with his own band in 1945[1] and performing with [Sharkey Bonano](/source/Sharkey_Bonano) (1949-52),[1] [George Girard](/source/George_Girard), [Mike Lala](/source/Mike_Lala), [Santo Pecora](/source/Santo_Pecora)[1] and virtually every other important name in New Orleans jazz.

As a leader, Monk Hazel recorded four titles in 1928 for [Brunswick Records](/source/Brunswick_Records) and a full album for [Southland Records](/source/Southland_Records) in 1954; [Pete Fountain](/source/Pete_Fountain) and [Al Hirt](/source/Al_Hirt) were among his sidemen on the latter recording.

## References

1. Rye, Howard; Barry Kernfeld. ["Hazel, Monk".](https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/browse?page=88&pageSize=20&sort=titlesort&subSite=grovemusic&t=music_Topics%3A42&t0=music_Eras%3A9) *Grove Music Online*. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

- *New Orleans Jazz, A Family Album*, Rose & Souchon, LSU Press, 1984
- *Who's Who of Jazz*, John Chilton, Da Capo, 1985

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Monk Hazel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_Hazel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_Hazel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.