February shows have been posted to the Shows tab and also on the Facebook BandPage. Highlights include performances with the Bob Meyer Concept Orchestra and the Pete Rodriguez Quintet.
Jazz saxophone for February 2012
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Tag Archives: Jazz Saxophone
A Time to Rest, Reflect
As 2011 closes and we move toward a new year, I wish you all the very best and hope you have a healthy, prosperous 2012. It’s been a whirl-wind couple of months but I’m so fortunate to have been able to make some great jazz saxophone music along the way.
Dr. James Polk telling one of his famous stories
One of the highlights for me was the ability to go into the recording studio with Dr. James Polk, Austin jazz icon and former musical director for Ray Charles for many years. Dr. Polk played on my first CD, Standards, and I was thrilled to be able to have him play on my latest effort. Recorded in two days at Churchhouse Studios just before Thanksgiving, the new CD will feature Dr. Polk on Hammond B3 organ, Jake Langley on guitar, Daniel Durham on bass and Scott Laningham on drums.
The program features two new original compositions and eight standards that I arranged for the group. In contrast to my last CD Dream Story, which features all original compositions and is heavily influenced by the nuanced style of Wayne Shorter, this CD is very accessible, swinging and just feels good. Nothing wrong with that!
I’m going back into the studio next week to mix the recording and I hope to have it ready to release sometime in Feb or March – before SXSW. If you are interested in participating in this recording with me, please consider joining Patronism.com where 100% of your subscription goes to finishing this CD. Thanks for reading and enjoy your holiday!
Jazz saxophone for December 2011
Hello friends, the jazz saxophone concert Casa Karen concert was a huge success! Thanks to the great audience who really made it a special night and to the musicians, Bruce Saunders, Angelo Lembesis, Daniel Durham, and Steve Schwelling who played beautifully. Finally big thanks to George Oldziey and Suzi Stern for opening their wonderful space to us so we could perform.
I’ve added my performances for December on the Shows page which includes a date this Friday, December 9 at The Elephant Room. The band features Pete Rodriguez on trumpet, Scott Laningham on drums, Daniel Durham on bass and Ben Irom on piano. We start at 9:30pm and play ’til the wee hours. Hope to see you tomorrow night.
Casa Karen Concert
I’m pleased to announce that on Saturday, December 3, The Elias Haslanger Quintet featuring Angelo Lembesis, Bruce Saunders, Steve Schwelling and Daniel Durham will play an exclusive concert at Casa Karen, one of Austin’s finest listening rooms.
The Casa Karen concert series is produced by George Oldziey and Suzi Stern, fantastic musicians in their own right, who have carefully created the perfect listening environment. The setting is George and Suzi’s living room, where listeners are up-close and personal with the musicians and without the usual distractions of bar talk, wait-staff or less-than-ideal seating. Every seat is perfect and the room is filled with the amazing sounds of the 9-foot grand piano which is really something to hear.
Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20. Free refreshments and treats of all sorts! Casa Karen is located at 7402 Greehaven Dr 78757 call for more info and reservations which are recommended: 512-459-9900 credit card payment accepted. This series is very popular and seating is limited so please, call now for reservations.
Jazz Saxophone for November
Hello friends, I’m running a bit behind this month but I have posted my November performances on the Shows page. Highlights include a November 18 gig on alto sax playing the part of Cannonball for a birthday tribute to Nat Adderly.
I also will be featuring two fantastic musicians on my November 11 gig at the Elephant Room: Peter Stoltzman on piano and Pete Rodriguez on trumpet. Mr. Stoltzman, an accomplished pianist has recently accepted a teaching job in Chicago but he’s back for a rare appearance. Mr. Rodriguez has recently returned to us from NYC and is a true talent on trumpet.
Finally, I was asked to sit in with the Bo-Keys, a Memphis-soul band, at the Continental Club this month on November 10. Full horn section with a serious groove.
The Journey
I’m excited to announce that I’m digitally re-releasing my very first jazz saxophone and composition recording called The Journey. Originally recorded and released as a demo in 1993, The Journey features 6 original compositions and 3 arrangements of classic standards performed by Rich Harney on piano, Jeff Haley on bass, Chris Searles on drums, Tito Carrillo on trumpet and Freddie Mendoza on trombone.
Listen to a single track called Monk in Mind right here, below. If you are interested in the entire recording, which is out of print, become my patron by subscribing to Patronism.com where you’ll have access to this recording plus my 4 other CD’s and a live recording from a KUT Studio 1A radio broadcast. All of this and a lot more content (6 CDs!) for as little as $2 per month for a 1yr subscription. Learn more at Patronism.com/EliasHaslanger.
Monk in Mind by Cherrywood Records
Jazz Saxophone Oct 14
I’m playing with my quintet at the Elephant Room this Friday, October 14 from 9:30pm-1:30am. Come join us as we play original jazz and some classics from the Blue Note era.
Reminder to check out Patronism.com to see how you can support my efforts to make a new jazz cd.
October Calendar
I’ve posted my October calendar >>here<< Highlights include a show with the Bob Meyer Concept Orchestra at the Elephant Room and with Serpentine at Momo’s Club. I hope to see you out and about this month.
Patronism
Today, I’m officially announcing my participation on Patronism.com and asking for your support. The idea of a patron of the arts has been around forever. The great composers of Western Classical music were all supported by the church or the ruling government and this still exists to some degree in our modern society, albeit in a much different form.
I welcome you to the 21st century version and ask that you consider this: subscribe to my ongoing stream of online content and decide what you think it’s worth. For as little as $2 per/mo (or more – you decide), you’ll have a login to Patronism where right now, all of my recorded material lives in digital format. You will be able to download any of my material that has been commercially released plus lots of stuff that hasn’t including radio appearances and out-of-print items like my first release, Standards. Additionally, you’ll find my blog posts about music, videos of live shows, and more. I’m hoping to start a webcast of my performances in the very near future and will soon be hosting a series of concerts which of course, you’ll have VIP access to.
Here’s what I like about this model, if you like my music and subscribe, your money goes directly toward creating more of it. Even though many of the barriers of entry to the music industry have crumbled, one still significant hurdle for an independent artist is getting in the studio and making a great CD, mostly due to cost. The Patronism website has some good detail about the economics of the music industry and I’ll sum it up for you: recording CD’s is a money losing scenario for a lot of artists (and labels, too). Patronism takes only a small (15%) fee for administrative purposes which is much different than the 40%+ that the current iTunes + middleman (CD Baby or the like) takes out of the pocket of the artist. More money directly to the artists means more music for you.
So that’s it. That you’re here and reading this is fantastic – thank you. Are you interested in collaborating to create more art and spread the music word to the community? Then join me at www.Patronism.com/EliasHaslanger
Studio session recap
Was lucky enough to get into the recording studio, thanks to Mark Sarisky and the Art Institute of Austin, and lay down 13 tracks of original music (minus one Monk and one Shorter tune) in two days. We got over 3 hours in the can which is really great. It was an amazing experience thanks to Bruce Saunders, Steve Schwelling and Daniel Durham, not to mention Mark and his crew who made it very easy. The next step will be to critically evaluate what we got and see if we have enough to put out the next CD. My gut tells me yes but the ears don’t lie. We’ll keep you posted on how it turned out. Regardless, the experience of rehearsing and recording my original stuff, some of which I wrote way back in ’98-’99 (!), is invaluable and I vow to do this at least once a year if I can pull it off. Balancing the family, a challenging (but fun) job, and music is not easy but it is so worth it.