""I spent all of my early 20s being a sideman," Hanahan said. "I was with Ulysses for three years, and I'm still playing with the great drummer Joe Farnsworth," as well as the Mingus Big Band and the Diva Orchestra, a long-running all-women jazz ensemble. She's soaked up knowledge from all of these situations, and not just about how to put a tune together. Hanahan has been thinking about the big picture when it comes to bandleading and presenting music effectively."
""Being a sideman, that's your job, focusing on playing that gig great," she said. "You take a lot of nuggets of knowledge from each one, things you want to carry forward in your name. I like how we put that piece together. I like what he or she says on the mic, speaking to the crowd, really bringing people in. I'm a sponge. The goal of leading my own band was always in the front of my mind.""
Sarah Hanahan is a New York alto saxophonist who developed her career by learning from mentors and working as a sideman in demanding ensembles. She established a reputation as a composer and bandleader with attention to emerging younger players. Residencies at the Black Cat provided concentrated development and visibility prior to an SFJAZZ Center debut at the Joe Henderson Lab (Sept. 20) and a performance at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society (Sept. 21). She has played with Ulysses Owens Jr., Joe Farnsworth, the Mingus Big Band, and the Diva Orchestra. She absorbs performance and presentation techniques to shape her own bandleading approach.
Read at The Mercury News
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