VICKSBURG    BRR29-30CD                                                                                                          

TWO VOLUMES:
VOL. #1: THE BATTLEFIELD AT NIGHT
VOL. #2: THE BATTLEFIELD AT DAWN

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 PRODUCED AND RECORDED BY PATRICK HAZELL   

Patrick Hazell: harmonicas, cornet, recorders, slide whistle, nose whistle, jaw harp, marching snare drum, sleigh bells, and vocals

Pam Hazell: vocals, bass harmonica (Vol. 2)

Aira Hazell: slide whistle, cornet, whistling and cricket sounds

Recorded on a Crown SX-722 two-track analog tape recorder on August 4-5, 1981, Vicksburg, Mississippi

The sounds on this album were recorded and performed in the Illinois memorial building on the grounds of the National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was performed live with no overdubs or pre-recorded material in the late and early hours of August 4-5, 1981. The Battlefield was void of tourists and full of the sounds of nature and the spirits of those thousands who fought and died during the great siege of Vicksburg---one of the most critical and decisive confrontations of what would eventually be known as the American Civil War.

The siege began on May 18, 1863, when the Union general, Ulysses S. Grant, attacked Vicksburg with the intention of destroying the stronghold over Mississippi River traffic that the Confederate forces had established there.
It was a formidable stronghold. Tired of a war that was not being resolved and anxious to ship their agricultural products down the Mississippi River, Midwestern states threatened secession from the Union if the Union army could not clear the Confederate blockade of the river traffic. Also, a victory at Vicksburg would help divide the Confederate states west of the Mississippi from those in the east.

President Lincoln commissioned Grant to take Vicksburg. When his initial attacks were repulsed, Grant decided to lay a siege to the city that lasted until the Vicksburg Confederates surrendered on July 4, 1863--the same day that the Union forces were victorious at Gettysburg. Almost 20,000 people lost their lives during the siege.

I first discovered the Military Park when I was making a gasoline stop while on a vacation trip with my wife, Pam, from Iowa to New Orleans. The entrance to the park was across the street from the service station. Though it was close to the park closing time, on a lark I decided to enter.

I had little knowledge of what had happened there; Vicksburg was just a dim name left in memory from a high school history class. But, the empathetic and tearful feeling that overcame me when simply driving through the military park quickly developed into a consuming passion for trying to understand the forces that were unleashed in this period of our nation's history. I gradually became aware of the fact that the complex issues that drove brothers to fight brothers in that war have not yet been resolved.

The Illinois memorial is a replica of the Roman Pantheon and was erected to commemorate those individuals from Illinois who fought in the siege (Illinois had the largest contingency of any state representing the Union forces). The memorial building is a classically designed marble dome within which all sounds reverberate for a good amount of time creating an overpowering and other-worldly ambience. Occasionally swallows would fly into the building through the top of the dome which had a large circular opening to the sky. Their chirping can be heard in spots on the recording, though in that building their chirps sounded more like synthesized electronic music. Such sounds were juxtaposed with the dim, muffled rushes of car and truck sounds from the interstate highway a couple of miles away.

While inside, I pulled out a harmonica and played a few notes: it sounded like a symphony! The notes hung in the air and entire musical phrases could be placed on top of each other before the first one played disappeared. I had a radio "boombox" tape recorder in the car and set it up to record while I walked around inside the memorial playing my harmonica. I was enthralled.

My wife and I then left the park and continued our trip south. A week later I played my cassette recording for my parents, Art and Dot Hazell. It brought them both to tears. Their second reaction was to suggest I make it into an album. The quality of cassette recording was not be good enough to transfer to vinyl. But, considering my parents reactions and my own feelings about the Vicksburg battleground and the haunting sounds of the Illinois memorial building, I knew it would be necessary for me to return and try to do some serious recording.

After arriving back in Iowa, I quickly made arrangements to return to the Military Park to record. I loaded my car with musical instruments and recording equipment and accompanied by Pam and my eight year old daughter, Aira, drove back down Highway 61 to Vicksburg. With permission granted in advance, we entered the Park after it had officially closed for the night. Then around 10:30 PM, with candles lighting the interior of the Memorial, I started to play and record amidst the sound of cicadas that filled the southern night. I went to sleep about 1:30AM, woke up again about 5AM, and continued to record until the Park reopened. For me it was a night spent communing with ghosts.

It is necessary when listening to this music to remember that the campaign at Vicksburg was a siege--not one battle. There were many quiet, if not even playful moments mixed in with the bloody action. As Emma Balfour, a resident of Vicksburg during the siege, wrote in her diary, "the birds are singing merrily as if all were well, rearing their little ones, teaching them to fly and fulfilling their part in nature's program as quietly and happily as if this fearful work of man slaying his brother was not in progress. The heavy firing gives us showers every day and nature is more lovely than usual...all save the spirit of man seems divine."

How quickly this quiet reflection could be destroyed by a barrage of cannon fire.

The musical instruments I chose to play were all commonly in use during the Civil War. The harmonica became popular at that time, and such instruments as the cornet(bugle), marching drum, and flute were common to military musicians. The melodies that weave in and out of my presentation are also of that era.

When listening to these recordings, I recommend solitary listening without interruptions and without the use of headphones: sudden explosive sounds might be hard on your ears. Plus, the space of a room allows for a more natural sounding ambience than does the close proximity of headphone speakers. In any case, however you choose to listen, I sincerely hope the music transfers to you some of the feelings that were mine during this truly mystical experience.

I wish to acknowledge my parents, Art and Dot Hazell, for their encouragement and support; my wife, Pam, and daughter, Aira, for their companionship and musical support; and Dan Lee, the park director at the National Military Park in Vicksburg for his help and assistance in making this project possible.

Patrick Hazell

BLUE RHYTHM RECORDINGS
220 East 17th Street
Washington, Iowa 52353
bluerhythm@se-iowa.net
www.patrickhazell.com