mazalan

Larry Mazalan

Guitar/Bass/Vocals (January 1976-April 1980)

Photo by Bill Sosin

Played all performance dates in America (February 1976-April 1980)
Performed Guitar/Vocals on the 1st Skafish demo tape (August 1976)
Performed Guitar/Vocals on the 4 song session produced by Robin McBride (October 1977)
Performed Guitar/Vocals on the 3 song session which gave birth to the 1st Skafish record: “Disgracing the Family Name” & “Work Song” (Recorded Summer 1978-Released November 1979)
Performed Bass/Vocals on the 1st Skafish LP (Recorded Summer 1979-Released May 1980)

Larry Mazalan first met Skafish when the two were both freshmen in different high schools. The two immediately clicked, and (with various other musicians) would jam endlessly, playing in and out of tonality, experimenting with jazz, blues, and rock forms. Mazalan was a naturally gifted improvisational bassist, and intuitively followed Skafish’s keyboard playing, creating a musical synergy.

Mazalan brought his style to Jim Skafish Group, an original jazz trio formed by Skafish in late 1972. In 1973 the group played at Bishop Noll Institute and local coffee houses with Larry performing some stunning solos while still a young teenager. Later that same year, Mazalan was the bassist for Sway, a Skafish-formed vocal rock/pop band that also featured Skafish classmate and future Wall Of Voodoo singer Andy Prieboy. From 1974-1975 Larry also occasionally played bass for Big Daddy Kinsey’s blues outfit in Gary, Indiana.

By the time the official Skafish band was formed in January of 1976, Mazalan and Skafish had already played together for 5 years. Skilled on both bass and guitar, Mazalan decided early on to focus on guitar, while Greg Sarchet played bass.

Larry could instinctively interpret the authentic essence of Skafish’s compositions, and his solos on the never released “Knuckle Sandwich” and “Executive Exhibitionist” from the August 1976 demo tape were stunningly strange. A talented singer, his powerful backing vocals stood out on the original recording of “Disgracing the Family Name.”

In April of 1980, right before the release of the Debut LP, Mazalan left the group to pursue his own original music. After his departure, he wrote and performed pop/rock, and did local session work as a guitarist/bassist. Larry started developing an interest in writing and performing Christian Music, an interest that came to be the main focus of his creative musical pursuits.

After several years of work in Christian based music, Mazalan and another Christian singer released an original CD in 1991. The project featured original Mazalan compositions, and was co-produced by former Skafish guitarist Ken Bronowski.

In 1999, Larry nationally released another Christian CD, this time as a solo artist. This album was also co-produced by Bronowski, and recorded by two-time Grammy nominated engineer Gary Loizzo. Shortly afterward, Larry returned the favor to Ken Bronowski when he played harmonica on Bronowski’s personal project, the year 2000 independent release “Labor of Love” by Bron-White. Besides performing for national Christian conferences, Mazalan is planning to release a 2nd Christian solo CD.

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