# Elias Haslanger has carved a unique and distinguished place in jazz history: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/07/09/elias-haslanger-has-carved-a-unique-and-distinguished-place-in-jazz-history-video/
- Published: 2018-07-09T00:02:59+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**09.07. – Happy Birthday !!! Over the span of his 25-year music career, native 
Texan and Austin resident Elias Haslanger has carved a unique and distinguished 
place in jazz history as a saxophonist, composer, and band leader, whose playing
and writing has drawn comparisons to John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, 
and Wayne Shorter. **

He has performed, recorded, and toured with many world-class artists including Ellis
Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, Asleep at the Wheel, Alejandro Escovedo, The Four Tops,
and The Temptations, among many others.

Elias has performed around the United States and Europe at clubs like Snug Harbor
in New Orleans, Jazz Alley in Seattle, The Elephant in Austin, and The Blue Note
in New York. He has also served as a guest artist/lecturer at universities around
the nation. Mentored by the legendary saxophonists Harvey Pittel and Dick Oatts,
Elias began to explore the instrument’s vast potential by studying saxophone at 
the University of Texas and then at the Manhattan School of Music. His interest 
in writing music culminated in a Master’s Degree in Composition at Texas State University(
TSU) in San Marcos.

In 1996, Elias recorded his second CD as a leader entitled For the Moment, which
received substantial national airplay, reaching #11 on the Gavin Jazz charts and#
14 on the Jazziz Radioactive chart. Herb Wong from JazzTimes magazine wrote, “Haslanger
is clearly in the forefront of the young, new, fresh players. He has respect for
tradition as well as being himself. He is a merger of the past and the future.” 
Elias was awarded “Best Horn Player” by the Austin Chronicle in 1997, as well as
the Jazz Instrumental Soloist College Outstanding Performance for the 20th Annual
Downbeat Student Music Awards. In 1998 TSU awarded Elias the Mitte Scholarship for
academic achievement, and Elias began to teach music theory and composition at the
university.

That same year, Elias collaborated with the patriarch of the modern jazz scene, 
Ellis Marsalis, to release Kicks Are for Kids, of which DownBeat magazine writer
Michael Point wrote, “Haslanger is now a full grown talent, both as a composer and
instrumentalist whose future has almost unlimited potential and should be regarded
in national terms.”

Kicks Are for Kids won praise from fans and critics around the world, and the recording
was recognized as one of the top five jazz records of the year by Rick Mitchell 
of the Houston Chronicle, while the Austin Chronicle’s writers Jay Trachtenberg 
and Christopher Hess voted it the #1 and #3 best records of all Austin artists. 
DownBeat’s writer Michael Point voted Kicks Are for Kids as one of the top ten best
CDs to come out of Austin in the 90′s, and it reached #4 on the Gavin Jazz charts
with 180 radio stations around the country playing it. Elias was also awarded “Best
Jazz Group” by the Austin Chronicle later that year. During this time, Elias continued
to teach theory, saxophone, and composition at TSU before moving to Brooklyn, New
York in 2000.

While living in Brooklyn, Elias was contacted by jazz trumpeter and musical icon
Maynard Ferguson and invited to tour the United States as part of his Big Bop Nouveau
band. As the featured tenor soloist in the band, Elias held the same chair Wayne
Shorter had held many years earlier, and the experience touring with Maynard helped
to shape Elias’s philosophy as a band leader and performer.

Since returning to his hometown of Austin in 2004, Elias has kept an active performing
and recording schedule, including releasing the 2006 recording Dream Story and performing
weekly engagements in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans. Elias
recently celebrated the release of his 5th CD as a leader, Church on Monday, featuring
Texas jazz icon Dr. James Polk, the former musical director for Ray Charles.

Says Jay Trachtenberg from the Austin Chronicle about Church on Monday, “Haslanger
has consistently demonstrated a penchant for ageless chestnuts, and this session
is no exception. His version of “On a Clear Day” is simply divine, fashioning a 
creamy, satin-smooth tone that harkens back to an earlier era of big-toned tenor
men. Four stars.”

Elias and the band, which also features guitar virtuoso Jake Langley, hold a residency
at Austin’s famous Continental Club Gallery every Monday at 8:30 pm. The CD is currently
in rotation on radio stations around the country and is receiving positive reviews
from writers and fans across the globe.

Says Glenn Astarita of AllAboutJazz.com, “Simply put, Haslanger is a major talent
who could find his way into the upper echelons of jazz with a judicious marketing
push and smaller gaps between recordings.” , Elias embeds the best of classical 
influences–from Ricard Strauss to Sergei Rachmaninoff; of rock and pop legends–from
Nat King Cole to the Beatles; of the profound and powerful heritages of jazz greats–
Duke Ellington to John Coltrane.

Performance credits: Ellis Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, Harry Connick, Jr., Martin
Banks, Wynton Marsalis, Alejandro Escovedo, Bob Dorough, Roy Hargrove, Wes Anderson,
Andre Hayward, Russell Gunn, Lew Soloff, Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Russell Malone,
Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Jesse Davis, Steve Turre, Al Grey, Peter Martin, Donald Edwards,
Allen Farnham, Roland Guerin, Fred Sanders, Edwin Livingston, JJ Johnson, Pete Rodriguez,
Bruce Saunders, Ephraim Owens, Kirk Whalum, Peter Stoltzman, Thomas Heflin, Ron 
Westray, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Joe LoCasio, Tony Campise, Asleep at the
Wheel, Mitch Watkins, Bob Meyer, Jae Sinnett, Marvin Stamm, James Polk, and countless
others. Elias has opened for the legendary McCoy Tyner and jazz greats Kenny Garrett
and Terence Blanchard.

![Картинки по запросу Elias Haslanger jazz](https://i0.wp.com/i.
ytimg.com/vi/MEXFk-T-kuQ/maxresdefault.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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