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Sarah Hanahan

Sarah Hanahan is an up-and-coming jazz saxophonist in New York City and is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Jazz performance at The Juilliard School. Now a resident of New York City but originally from Marlborough, Massachusetts, Sarah grew up listening to a wide variety of music, but always had a special love for jazz.  Her father, who plays drums and percussion, introduced Sarah to music and gave Sarah her first saxophone at the age of 8.  Sarah played lead alto sax for the Marlborough High School jazz band. As a high school senior, Sarah was lead alto for the New England Conservatory Prep Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Ken Schaporst, who taught her much about the history and tradition of big band music. She also studied with tenor saxophone great, Jerry Bergonzi. 

In 2015, Sarah was awarded a full scholarship to study jazz performance at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz within the Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford).  Her college professors include well-known jazz saxophone performers Javon Jackson and Abraham Burton.  The Jackie McLean Institute has also afforded Sarah the opportunity to receive instruction from and perform with accomplished jazz musicians such as bassist Nat Reeves and trombonist Steve Davis. She recently graduated with her Bachelors of Music in the spring of 2019. 

In the fall of 2020, Sarah started pursing her Masters Degree at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. She is focusing on Jazz performance and is studying with some of the best musicians in the business including Bruce Williams, Ron Blake, Kenny Washington, Marc Cary and others. 

In addition to her heavy gigging schedule, Sarah and her band have had many amazing opportunities over the last few years to play at renowned festivals and clubs such as Smalls, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, The Detroit Jazz Festival, The Side Door Jazz Club, the Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series, The Rubber City Jazz Festival and many more. Sarah Hanahan Quintet was also awarded 2019 Best Jazz Band by CT Now Readers Poll. 

Sarah was also awarded the great opportunity to participate in many Jazz programs over the last few summers. These programs have provided Sarah with mentorship from some of the best in the jazz world and have been invaluable experiences. She participated in prestigious programs such as the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center 2019, Jazz Aspen Snowmass with Christian McBride 2019, Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency 2019, Woodshed Network with Dee Dee Bridgewater 2019, and Ravinia Steans Jazz Institute 2018. These programs included working with jazz greats such as Christian McBride, Jason Moran, Gregory Hutchinson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Rufus Reid, Billy Childs, Tim Hagans, Marcus Printup, Peter Martin, Shelly Berg, Casey Benjamin, and many other greats. Sarah was also a part of Dee Dee Bridgewater’s 2019 inaugural WoodShed Network program which comprised of 8 young women in jazz talking about business and female empowerment in the industry. 

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Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat

Read "A New Beat" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The rhythms presented on award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.'s latest album are not exactly A New Beat, as they have been heard in various configurations for at least eighty years or more, but they do provide a plausible indication of the path that Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers would presumably have followed had Blakey lived into the twenty-first century. Owens, who teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City, has a knack for spotting and encouraging ...

13
Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat

Read "A New Beat" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


A New Beat, crafted by the multi-Grammy award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his Generation Y outfit, materializes as a vivid emblem of jazz's evolving dynamics. This album, an amalgamation of nine tracks, epitomizes the fusion of classic jazz standards with inventive perspectives. Among its highlights, “Bird Lives" notably shines for its technical brilliance and tribute to jazz icons, striking a harmonious balance between honoring the past and embracing the new. This track, alongside the production's repertoire, demonstrates the ensemble's ...

26
Album Review

Grace Fox Big Band: Eleven O'Seven

Read "Eleven O'Seven" reviewed by Jack Bowers


In the long history of jazz, it is rare for a teenage musician to establish a big band, let alone lead one. In fact (historians will have to verify this), it may never have happened. One thing is certain—no teenage woman has ever formed a big band and become its leader. Until now. Meet trumpeter Grace Fox, a nineteen-year-old student at the Manhattan School of Music, founder and leader of the seventeen-member, all-female Grace Fox Big Band, which has recorded ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A New Beat

Cellar Records
2024

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Eleven O'Seven

Self Produced
2022

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