With over 25 #1 radio singles and four Grammy nominations
over the past 11 years as an artist, producer and mixing engineer, Darren Rahn
has become urban jazz’s premiere sonic architect, the “go-to” guy for
established genre greats and up and comers looking for their next sure-fire
hit. Yet in signing with Woodward Avenue Records and recording his fifth album,
the British Columbia born, Denver based saxophonist – who launched his solo
career with Soulful in 2004 - is after something more meaningful than a few
more instantly infectious smashes. The multi-talented performer’s desire to
launch his second decade as an innovative powerhouse by creating music in his
truest voice, straight from the heart, is perfectly in line with the label’s
unique mission: to let artists make music authentic to themselves, beyond the
trappings of formulas and strictly commercial considerations.
Rahn’s
lifelong affinity for woodwinds started as a kid with the clarinet before he
taught himself baritone sax to join his junior high jazz band. He has infused
his previous four albums – including Once in a Lifetime (2005), Talk of the
Town (2009) and Speechless (2012) – with a mix of tenor, alto and soprano. On
the new album, he believes that the best way to display the purest
representation of his artistry is to focus strictly on the tenor. “I’ve matured
to the point on my musical journey where I believe it’s time to really make
that choice,” he says. “I’ll still play alto and soprano live, and will play
alto, soprano and baritone on future recordings, but the horn that shows my
heart and my core as a musician, and that I wanted to showcase on this album,
is the tenor.”
Another
unique element is the decision to go with all live drums, as opposed to his
previous trademark mix of live and computer generated grooves, in addition to
instruments like the Hammond B-3 organ and Bosendorfer piano. Because the
project is about much more than simply creating ten new potential singles for
radio, he is also composing some longer tunes, and ones that explore his equal
passions for pop, rock and R&B/funk – as well as his lifelong affinity for
the gospel music he grew up playing. Rahn’s desire to keep things as organic
and raw as possible may also lead to a bona fide, expansive jazz fusion track.
“The new
album will be my most honest and heartfelt to date, with real musicians and an
overall live performance feel,” he says. “I’ll have some of the flare and style
people are used to from me, but I’m not looking to conform to the genre but
instead draw from those funk, jazz fusion and gospel roots as well. This record
is really going to showcase my ‘voice’ as an artist more than I’ve done previously,
as well as show more versatility. I’m working to make it my best engineering
and production to date, but the essence is being built around the saxophone,
completely reflective of the blessed place I am in my life.”
Six years
after the untimely passing of his close friend, contemporary jazz bass great
Wayman Tisdale, Rahn is paying homage to him via the ballad “Losing You.” Rahn
explains, “It was a song I could have recorded earlier, but I didn’t feel ready
until now. It’s designed to pay homage to a great musician and wonderful friend
while also bringing me personal resolution. For fans, his loss was tremendous,
but for those of us who were closest to Wayman, his loss was more impactful
than anyone could imagine. This tune was my way of saying I’m now at peace with
his loss as much as I can be.”
Rahn, who
launched his career producing, engineering and mixing for local Denver area
artists starting in the late 90s, began working with Tisdale after Rendezvous
Music, an independent label co-owned by Dave Koz, showed interest in signing
him. While the label couldn’t commit to adding Rahn to their roster, they were
so impressed with his production that they offered to have helm a track for
Tisdale, one of their top artists. In 2004, just as his own solo career was
gaining steam, Rahn produced the bassist’s hit cover of “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us
Now”; it was in the pole position on the airplay charts for four weeks and
stayed in the Top 10 for nearly eight months. His subsequent production work on
Tisdale’s Way Up! project led him to earn one of his Grammy nominations; the
others came from his contributions as a producer and/or mixer for three Dave
Koz projects: Greatest Hits, Hello Tomorrow and Summer Horns.
Rahn’s dual
paths as an artist and producer reached a unique pinnacle in 2008-2009, when
his own single “Talk of the Town” hit #1 on the Billboard jazz chart (followed
by the Top 5 track “What Cha Gonna Do For Me”) and he scored three consecutive
#1 productions (14 weeks in all) on the Radio & Records smooth jazz chart,
holding the top position with Koz, Eric Darius and Tim Bowman. During this
time, Rahn held the top three chart positions for several weeks and had as many
as four songs in the Top Ten at the same time. Over the years, as his
detail-oriented sonic excellence led to more and more hit recordings, his
resume has grown to include everyone from Toby Keith, Jonathan Butler and Najee
to Bob James, Kirk Whalum, Jeffrey Osborne, Phil Perry, Jeff Lorber, Norman
Brown, Jonathan Fritzen, Scott Allman, Julian Vaughn, Nate Harasim, Nick
Colionne, Lebron, Dave Bradshaw, Jr., Patrick Lamb and Ryan Montano.
Growing up
on a farm in in a small British Columbia mountain town and later in San Diego,
Rahn’s formative musical experiences – and the foundation of his later passion
for jazz and other genres – came from playing gospel music. In addition to
performing at his home churches, he toured around with his parents’ singing
group. Throughout his journey, he played everything from traditional hymns to
mainstream Southern gospel tunes. After playing jazz in both junior high and
high school, he studied music as an undergraduate at Adams State University,
then earned his master’s and part of his Doctorate at the University of
Northern Colorado in classical saxophone and jazz pedagogy. Settling in Denver,
Rahn by 1997 was self employed as a free lance producer, writing his own
material on the side as he worked towards his eventual emergence as a solo
artist.
“Working on
the new album, I’ve really been enjoying the variety of music that draws from
all of these musical roots,” he says. “It was especially fun and effortless
recording the gospel tune because that was such a huge part of my background.
Because of the freedom I have to explore as an artist with Woodward Avenue
Records, I also appreciate the opportunity to approach the compositions more
from a melodic sense. I am building all of the songs around melodies I compose
at the piano, as opposed to starting with big production ideas and working the
tunes around those. I’m really excited about this special project and the start
of this new phase of my solo career.”
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