Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
Mysterious Traveler - Dan Hanrahan
Jan 4, 2015
The Free Library, the Producer's Guild and PJP are teaming up to present a daring, new performance series. Entitled, Mysterious Travelers Concert Series, it will feature FREE monthly concerts running through April 2015. It will also showcase a diverse array of Jazz performers who are shaping the future sounds of Philadelphia. The upcoming concert is...
Monday, January 12, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Central Library/Montgomery Auditorium
1901 Vine Street, 19103
Featuring: Dan Hanrahan
Dan Hanrahan is a jazz guitarist based in Philadelphia. He has played with musicians such as Larry McKenna, Terell Stafford, Tim Warfield, and Pat Bianchi. All About Jazz columnist RJ Johnson describes Dan as “a guitarist well versed in the jazz tradition” and writes, “Hanrahan’s style recalled the nuances of many of jazz guitar’s pioneers such as Grant Green and Tal Farlow”.
Born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC, Dan began playing the guitar at the age of 11. After several years of playing hard rock and blues, Dan developed a passion for jazz. In 2005, he moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University where he studied under the direction of Terell Stafford. Since graduating, Dan has gone on to play at venues all along the east coast including Chris' Jazz Cafe, Twins Jazz, The Deer Head Inn, and the COTA Festival. Dan continues to perform with his trio and as a sideman for many musicians in the Philadelphia Jazz scene.
PJP: Can you briefly describe your musical direction?
Dan Hanrahan: I'd say I'm a straight ahead jazz guitarist. The things that are important to me in my music are melody, swing, tastefulness, and musical interaction in the moment. I like to write original tunes and arrange older tunes that people may know and offer my own take on them. I'd like for people to identify with my sound and hear things that they like about traditional jazz guitar, but I'd also like to bring my own voice, my own ideas, and my own compositions.
PJP: What and whom are pivotal musical influences on your creative approach?
Daniel Hanrahan: I'm lucky to say that my family has been incredibly supportive of my musical career. I was introduced to music by my parents, and along with my brother and sister, they were my first musical influence. I took an interest in the guitar because my father and brother played the instrument.
One of my earliest influences on the guitar was my brother Michael. He is about 8 years older than I am, and when I first started playing he was already an excellent blues guitarist. Along with my father, Mike showed me how to play the blues and improvise. Ever since, improvising and the blues have been a big part of my musical persona.
Some of my biggest influences are Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker.
PJP: How do you manage the task of creating and encouraging fresh, new, forwarding moving musical ideas, while simultaneously exploring, celebrating and documenting the past?
Dan Hanrahan: I love the history of this music, and it's a huge part of my playing. I've studied and listened to many of the great players that have come before me, and I've learned the language they used. But I've also taken time to explore how I can use some of those concepts to express my own ideas and hopefully those ideas come through when I play, whether it's an original composition or a different take on an old standard. Learning the history and coming up with new ideas are both still very much ongoing endeavors for me as well! One thing that helps is that Philadelphia has many great forward thinking musicians, so it's a lot of fun to collaborate with other people and get their perspectives and ideas.
PJP: When listening to your music, what advice would you give to audiences to aide with greater understanding and enjoyment?
Dan Hanrahan: I would advise someone to listen for the melody and the groove - I try to compose and improvise in a melodic way and hope that people's ears can latch on to these melodies. I would also say to listen to the rhythm section during each solo, because they will be supporting and reacting in the moment to make the solo more exciting.
PJP: Why Jazz?
Dan Hanrahan: I knew pretty early on that I would choose music as my career. When I was 15, I had a guitar teacher at a local music store who introduced me to jazz and told me tons of players to check out and I eventually went on to study music and jazz at Temple University. Since I already loved to improvise, playing jazz was a natural progression. Learning about jazz opened up a lot of new possibilities for me as a player - interesting harmonies, syncopated rhythms and things like that. Ever since I moved to Philadelphia and became part of the wonderful music scene here, there's been no turning back!
Monday, January 12, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Central Library/Montgomery Auditorium
1901 Vine Street, 19103
Featuring: Dan Hanrahan
Philadelphia Jazz Project (PJP) works to inspire a network to support, promote, archive and celebrate the diverse elements within the Philadelphia jazz community, with the larger goal of connecting to the global community. PJP is a sponsored project of the Painted Bride Art Center, with funding provided by the Wyncote Foundation.
The Producer’s Guild’s mission is to ensure that the appreciation and enthusiasm for the rich cultural heritage of African American Arts continues to thrive in Philadelphia, especially Black Classical Music, commonly known as Jazz.
