Tom Hazleton (1942–2006), global ambassador of the classical and theatre organ world, passed peacefully in his sleep after a day of recording on the Midmer-Losh organ at the home of Adrian Phillips on March 13. Internationally acclaimed, Tom was indeed “The Dean of American Theatre Organists.”
A gifted musical genius, known for his artistry, leadership, understanding, dignity and respect, Tom was an extraordinary virtuoso. With passion, rhythm, and subtlety, his keyboard facility was fiercely dramatic. He was able to play whatever came into his mind—a musical visionary who would produce an emotional fire with subtle rhythms of jazz, introduce a new, intense rhythm in the pedals that would suddenly blossom, unfolding a familiar dance tune from Broadway, a theme from a Bach chorale, or possibly a drumbeat of Babatunde Olatunji.
A virtual cornerstone of the theatre organ world, he would approach playing from any angle, an incredible improviser with a musical alphabet and sonic fingerprints that moved beyond the bickering over non-essentials, interweaving dimensions of creativity, vision, and intuition that reflected the core of his psyche, a music supreme and audience friendly. His haunting presence combined tradition, beauty of forms, dynamic tonal tensions, and innovation in a fluid, contemporary medium, hallmarks of a leading, dazzling and renowned keyboard genius.
As he unveiled the driving force of a song, his rhythmical phrasing cut a physical impression, a sense of momentum and élan—a lilt, a bounce, a musical pulse full of nuances, inflections, counterpoint, elasticity and flexibility of the beat, with confidence and consummate skill. Polyrhythms bubbled unexpectedly as wild sounding textures expanded our horizons—an endless kingdom of organ boogie, bop, jazz, ragtime and swing, blazing landscapes—alternating, now behind the beat, now ahead of the beat with unique precision and abandon.
Tom Hazleton, a master of the King of Instruments and considered to be one of the few concert organists to be equally at home at the largest classical and theatre organ consoles in the world, was named Organist of the Year in 1986 by the American Theatre Organ Society. Educated at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Tom was a student and assistant to organist-composer Richard Purvis at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, as well as staff organist at the Paramount Theatre in the same city. His concerts were international in scope and included the Mormon Tabernacle, Sydney Opera House, Radio City Music Hall, Wanamaker Store in Philadelphia, and the Crystal Cathedral.
As one of the most inventive and entertaining theatre organists in the world, Tom was unwilling to “dumb down” his music in order to cater to the insular-minded organist brotherhood with their stodgy reputation, some of whom found him to be politically unacceptable. His world reflected the Big Band era of Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, William “Count” Basie, when swing music was in vogue; i.e., great playing backed by smooth, steady, fluid rhythms so typical of the 1930s, a unique representative of Americana and retro culture at its finest hour.
Tom was organist and associate minister of music for fourteen years at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, as well as professor of organ at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and design consultant to major organ manufacturers, including a staff position as tonal director with the Allen Organ Company in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
Although we mourn the masterful Knight of the Organ who has taken leave of his family, movie palaces and legions of friends worldwide, the unforgettable brilliance of Tom Hazleton’s musical legacy lives on in a colossal CD tapestry of highly acclaimed performances.
—Peter J. Basch
Hoboken, New Jersey
Organist and composer Lucius R. Weathersby, 37, a visiting artist at Amherst College and assistant professor of music and African world studies at Dillard University in New Orleans, died suddenly March 17. Born April 8, 1968, in Houston, he grew up in Many, Louisiana and was educated at Dillard University, where he received a B.A. degree in German and music in 1989, the University of Northern Iowa (M.Mus., 1999), the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Union Institute in Cincinnati (Ph.D., 2002).
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Weathersby was offered a faculty position at Amherst College. In January 2006 he was appointed music director at South Congregational Church, Springfield, Massachusetts. Plans were underway for a series of local recitals and lectures, growth of the music ministry at South Church, and international travel. He was on the roster of Kingsdale Artist Management.
Weathersby performed in Europe, Central America, and throughout the United States. In addition to teaching and performing, he previously served as music director at churches in Louisiana, Iowa, and Arizona. As conductor, Weathersby led numerous orchestral and vocal ensembles. In 1993, he was a guest conductor at the International Dvorák Festival. He also led the West Union Madrigal Singers in Dvorák’s Mass in D. In 1997, he was appointed assistant to Maestro Herriman and the San Marcos Symphony.
Weathersby lectured on such topics as African-American music, keyboard techniques, and the music of the Baroque at Cambridge University, Yale University, the University of London, and AGO chapters. Albany Recordings released Spiritual Fantasy—Organ Works by African and African-American Composers in 2000 and a CD of African and African-American composers for piano and flute with flutist Wendy Hymes in 2001.
In early 2006, he traveled to Germany and recorded a CD of organ music, the proceeds of which are to benefit musicians in the Gulf Coast region of the United States impacted by Katrina. This project was sponsored by the Hey-Orgelbau company and recorded on their instruments in the cities of Leutershausen, Mellrichstadt, and Kreuzberg. This collaboration led to Weathersby being invited to exclusively represent Hey-Orgelbau in the United States.
Weathersby’s compositions include Fanfare for choir (1993), Seven Last Words for chamber orchestra (1994), Suite in d for piano (premiered by members of the Phoenix Symphony, 1996), Tranquility Suite for organ (1997), Spiritual Fantasy (premiered by the composer on the Fisk organ at the Myerson Center of the Performing Arts, 1997) and other works.
Besides his parents, of Dallas, he is survived by a 6-year-old son, Lucius Weathersby of New Orleans; one brother and two aunts. A memorial service was held on March 20 at the South Congregational Church in Springfield, Massachusetts, featuring compositions by Dr. Weathersby performed by the Chancel Choir. In his mother’s note read to those assembled, she wrote that the memory of Lucius will be well served if we all “take care of ourselves, our body and our spirit,” for his death was caused by stroke following years of elevated blood pressure that went untreated until recently.
—Dr. E Lary Grossman, Dean
American Guild of Organists
Springfield, Massachusetts Chapter
