About
Paul Krassen, a jazz pianist, is a graduate of William Paterson College School of Jazz where he studied with such jazz luminaries as Rufus Reid, Norman Simmons, Harold Mabern, Rob Schneiderman, Pete Malinverni and many others. He also studied classically with the late Gary Kirkpatrick. Paul currently leads his Smoking Section Quintet and plays jazz gigs as a sideman throughout the Philadelphia area. He has released 2 CDs under his own name with Larry Mckenna and Tony DeSantis.
Joe Anderson is a Philadelphia native trumpet player deeply rooted in the jazz and classical idioms. Joe has played in several regional orchestras as well as many large and small group jazz bands and wedding bands. Attending University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Joe earned his bachelor's degree while studying with Philadelphia jazz trumpet giants John Swana and George Rabbai. He has also studied with former Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony principal trumpet player Frank Kaderabek. While at UArts, Joe was selected to participate in the prestigious Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra in New York as well as holding steady jobs in Atlantic City, Cape May, and Philadelphia. Joe recently completed his Master’s degree in Jazz Studies as an Assistant Instructor for the jazz department at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. While at IU, Joe studied with trumpet players Pat Harbison and Joey Tartell while receiving many wonderful opportunities such as playing with the New York Voices at Jazz at the Lincoln Center, recording and playing for the Bloomingtones Big Band, writing and arranging for his collaborative jazz group JKS, and winning a 2015 Downbeat Magazine award for Outstanding Graduate Combo Performance. Joe has returned to Philadelphia to continue his playing and teaching career. Currently, Joe serves as a faculty member of the University of the Arts and is also a member/soloist of the Philly Pops Big Band.
Mark Allen hails from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, but has lived and worked in the Philadelphia area for the last six years. Mark is currently on the saxophone faculty at the University of the Arts, where he has also completed a Master's Degree in Woodwind Performance. He has had the privilege of studying with Joel Frahm, Ben Schachter, Chris Farr, and Ron Kerber. In addition to co-leading several ensembles, Mark is an active member of The Norman David Eleventet, the Captain Black Big Band, and several other Philadelphia/New York ensembles. He has shared the stage with jazz luminaries such as George Garzone, Marcus Belgrave, Wycliffe Gordon, Dick Oatts, Orrin Evans, Frank Lacy, and Tim Hagans, among others. Mark is also active in the Philadelphia theater scene as a woodwind player, performing on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, and oboe.
David Brodie performs regularly with some of Philadelphia’s finest such as Larry McKenna, Dave Posmontier, and Victor North and has shared the stage locally with some of the most celebrated jazz musicians in the world including Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Randy Brecker, Seamus Blake, and Steve Wilson. He is the bassist for M’oudswing, a world fusion ensemble with whom he has recorded two albums and performed at the Tanjazz festival in Tangeirs, Morocco and at the Festival Mawazine Rythms Du Monde in Rabat. He has performed with Symphony in C, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and with renowned cellist Kinan Abou-Afach. He has played early jazz throughout his career, playing and recording with Ronnie James and the Jez Hot Swing Club and more recently with the Philly Stomp and with Drew Nugent & the Midnight Society. His most recent project is leading The Future Tense Quartet which includes saxophonist Victor North, trumpeter Elliot Bild, and drummer Doug Hirlinger.
Doug Hirlinger is a drummer, vibraphonist, electronic musician, and composer raised in St. Louis and living in Philadelphia. He has toured throughout the United States and Europe and performed in such venues as Blue Note (NY), Birdland, The Iridium, and 55 Bar. He attended the University of North Texas and graduated from Manhattan School of Music. Over the last 28 years Doug has been fortunate to have played with many world renowned musicians. The list includes: Peter Bernstein, Stanley Jordan, Seamus Blake, Ralph Bowen, Joel Frahm, Rudresh Mahanathapa, Matt Mitchell, Jason Moran, Luis Perdomo, Jacob Sacks, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, The Philadelphia Orchestra and many more. Upon moving to Philadelphia the first of two times in 2001, Doug spent much of his time at the famed and beloved Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus where he worked with pianist Sid Simmons and others. A trio he co-led with Matt Michell and Tarus Mateen was a crowd favorite there as was Neil Podgurski’s New Fire, of which he was a member.
In 2018, three years after returning to Philadelphia for a second time, Doug completed an artist residency at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts resulting in a 10-piece suite titled, Dear Philadelphia, exploring gentrification, inequality, and musical legacy in Philadelphia with collaborators Ursula Rucker, M’Balia Singley, Tim Motzer, and John Swana. In the summer of 2022 Doug was commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz Project, along with his wife and vocalist, Keisha Hutchins Hirlinger, to compose “Water Speaks” originally part of the exhibit “POOL: A Social History of Segregation” at Philadelphia Water Works. The group features Doug on vibraphone and Madison Rast on bass and continues to book performances.
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