Darren Rahn
Self-Starter And Overflowing With Motivation
Artist Interview by: Susan Frances
Contemporary jazz producer and saxophonist Darren Rahn has a reason to smile not only because he is married to the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes, but also because his second solo album Once In A Lifetime on NuGroove Records is a nominee for Best Album of the Year at the 2008 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. In addition, Rahn received a second nomination for Wind Instrumentalist of the Year. The show will be held at the Living Arts Center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on March 7, 2008. Born in British Columbia, Rahn is not only excited about the nominations but also for being asked to perform.
“I am so excited to have received the nominations for the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards,” he glows. “It’s a true honor to even be thought of in that way and to be placed in those categories with so many other great musicians. I think these things do give you a temporary confidence boost and they certainly are pleasing to one’s ego, whether we want to admit it or not. But being successful as a musician requires a lot of confidence in the first place and that kind of confidence has to come from within and that confidence is rooted in hard work – keeping your musical skills up to par by practicing and learning.“
His album Once In A Lifetime features selections co-written with Jeff Lorber, Dave Koz, and Wayman Tisdale whom he played saxophone for on such cover tunes as “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” and “Get Down On It” from Tisdale’s albums. “Having Wayman on the record was a dream come true,” he pledges, “and working together was SO much fun. It’s not really work at all, we just had fun and let the music come out. It was very much the same as when we did his record. Just a lot of fun!! And the same goes for Jeff Lorber and Dave Koz – both amazing people and musicians as well. I was so honored to have all these guys on my record.”
Rahn’s exuberance is limitless as he describes about the album, “This album stretched me big time, as a player and producer. It was a turning point in my life and career. My wife and I had decided to start a family and had our first child on the way and my career was starting to really take off. That’s where the title came from - Once in a Lifetime. There were so many cool once in a lifetime circumstances surrounding this album. This was the one that I knew would be my breakout effort and also the first record that I felt I really had the skills to achieve the full result I had in my head. I grew tremendously during this time.”
He shares about the inspirational song “A Greater Love” from Once In A Lifetime, “I wrote ‘A Greater Love’ with my friend Andrae Hazard. This is a song about love, all kinds - romantic love, spiritual love and the fact that there is something bigger than us that is God, and that is very important to me.”
Once In A Lifetime is Rahn’s follow up to his debut release Soulful from 2005. He radiates joy when he talks about the LP. “It was my first solo album and it was a combination of demo songs and others that I was working on at the time. I am proud of it and it was a big milestone for me, getting the first solo CD done.”
He reveals about Soulful, “I did the whole thing pretty much myself. I didn’t have the budget to do it any other way so I did the majority of it and then had some musician friends come in and play as well. I wrote most of the songs, but the track ‘Manejando’ was a collaboration with my good friend and guitarist Isidro Aybar.”
Rahn plays a rendition of Janet Jackson’s romantic hit song “Come Back To Me” on Soulful with such a blissfully atmospheric you wonder why Miss Jackson does not re-record the song using Rahn’s contemporized composition. “I just loved the song way back when I heard her do it,” he reminisces, “and decided that I wanted to do a cover of it on my album. It’s such a heartfelt and emotional song. I love it!”
Rahn’s attraction for commercial pop and heartfelt jazz instrumentation set him on his present course. His parents planted this seed in him as a child growing up in British Columbia, Canada. He admits, “I taught myself saxophone. My parents had me take two years of piano when I was young and music has always been a big part of our family. We actually had a gospel group as a family when I was very young. Then in grade school I started on clarinet. When I got to junior high, I taught myself saxophone and I’ve been playing ever since.”
After high school, Rahn attended Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado where he majored in music education. “I decided to attend Adams State College because it offered me the opportunity to really spend a lot of time practicing my saxophone. It was a small school, but that allowed me to really be an important part of the entire music program - bands, choirs, classical, jazz, everything. Without that experience I would not have learned to be self-sufficient as a musician. It also forced me to find my own identity musically, because it was so small and secluded I had to find my own way and my own voice musically. I majored in Music Education for several reasons. First of all, I wanted to have something to fall back on, and also in music, you don’t need a performance degree to perform but you do need a degree in education if you want to teach. So I thought that was the most logical choice. Either way, I knew I was going to devote as much time as possible to my saxophone.“
He comments, “In retrospect, I would have minored in business. I wish I would have done that. Instead I have had to learn the old-fashioned way – the school of hard knocks. College definitely broadened my scope of playing and music. I was exposed to so many different types of music and really found the style that I love.”
After graduating from Adams State College, Rahn attended the University of Northern Colorado where he earned a Master’s degree in Saxophone Performance and Jazz Pedagogy. “I knew that the University of Northern Colorado was just right for me.” He defines the campus as “a good size and very well respected music program, but not so large that I would get lost. There was lots of healthy competition to keep me working very hard but not so much that I would get lost in the shuffle. I did classical and jazz. In fact, I even won the Northern Colorado Orchestral competition one year, very much to my surprise! Roger Greenberg, my classical saxophone instructor, was integral in teaching me to truly control my saxophone and the Head of Jazz Studies, Gene Aitken, taught me about the importance of business and being versatile - knowing how to do almost everything yourself.”
He remarks, “Without these two teachers, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I owe them a lot! In addition, I was required to turn in homework in Finale, a music notation program on the computer. That got me into computers which ended up leading to production. So really, my time at the University of Northern Colorado was the pivotal point for me. That’s where everything converged and where I began to see what I was going to do with my career.”
Rahn had set himself up to become a motivating force in jazz music. If not that, then he would become a teacher that could nurture such qualities in his students. Becoming an educator was put on the side burner as Rahn was launched into the music profession as an active member. He made the decision to stay in Colorado after acquiring his college degrees citing, “My wife and I really like it here in Colorado and when I finished school, I took a gamble. I figured that with high speed internet and the ability to do things remotely, I knew that it was only a short amount of time before physical location would be much less of a boundary. I took my time developing the skills I needed to play and produce and now I’ve created a great niche by living here in Colorado.”
He muses, “There are so many musicians in big cities like Los Angeles and New York that it becomes very tough to make it, plus the cost of living is so much higher. I love the quality of life here in Colorado and it is a great place to raise my family also. Being in Colorado has actually become a very good thing for me. I am centrally located and people also have come to know that I live here. It was a little slow going at first but now I am busy beyond belief. I’m very blessed.”
He had his hands into many aspects of music after graduation, performing, recording, engineering, and producing as he addresses, “I did everything. I’ve always played live with other musicians and also have always been into recording. I play solo, with other artists, produce myself, produce others and all different styles. I love it all and it helps to keep me to be well rounded musically.”
He professes, “I was very determined. I immediately got out and started looking for paying gigs, networking with anyone and everyone. I played live gigs solely for a little over a year and started to realize that it was a very tough profession. I wanted to spend more time at home with my wife. I had been messing around with music production since my days at Adams State College and finally decided to get serious about it, and I’m still doing it today. I never expected it to go this far, but I’m sure glad it has. It has provided me with so much opportunity and stability that I wouldn’t have otherwise. It has also opened up SO many doors as a solo artist. I love doing both and I can’t see myself only doing one. I’m happiest when I get to play and produce.”
He demonstrates how the visionary part of his personality compelled him to explore the producer inside of him. “I had done a record in college and wasn’t happy with the results. I had a certain sound in my head and didn’t know how to get it onto a recording. That started my quest into engineering and production - a quest that I’m still on. I figured that if I wanted to get a certain result then I needed to learn how to do it myself. It’s like a piece of music that’s in your head and your soul and your spirit. You can’t tell someone else how to get it out of your brain. If you want it to be you, then you’ve got to find a way to express it your way. As a saxophonist, I think in terms of what is coming out of my soul and how to let that translate into music very much based on my feelings, emotions and experiences, allowing myself to be creative as an artist.”
He comments, “As a producer, I’m more analytical, deciding how to take that artistry and put it into a format that can touch people. It’s very important to me that music be shared with others and when I’m producing, I’m constantly thinking about that. I feel that music for me is an outward expression. I don’t want to wait until I’ve passed on to see people enjoying it. I want as many people as possible to enjoy it now. I want it in a format that can reach as many people as possible. When others are touched by my music, that it’s the greatest accomplishment and reward for me. That is why I love commercial music, although many musicians dislike it. I love to hear music done in a way that appeals to the general public, ‘cuz they have no preconceived ideas, no deep education, no technical expertise or formal music instruction. They just listen with their hearts. That’s the best way to enjoy music!”
He notes, “There are so many producers I have learned from by listening to their work – too many to name. But I had to figure it out all myself. I’ve had no formal production or engineering training. I’ve just learned by doing it myself. I love so many different styles of music. My favorites are pop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, and the list goes on. Listening to different styles is essential for me both as a musician and a producer.”
Some artists whom he has performed, recorded and/or produced for include Kirk Whalum, Jeffrey Osborne, Tim Bowman, Kim Waters, Dave Sereny, Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson, and a number of other jazz notables. He is thrilled to have performed shows as well with many of these artists and proclaims, “I do (it) all the time. I love playing with other artists.”
He has also learned immeasurable lessons from these artists as he enthuses, “I learn something new every time I work with others, and very often in those situations, I’m forced to find a musical or technical solution and that’s been the best education for me.”
Having worked with so many jazz stars has also given him leverage on the concert circuit which opened up doors for him to play at the Jazztrax Catalina Island Jazz Festival. “Catalina is always a blast,” he elates, “great place, great people, and the atmosphere is incredible. It’s such a beautiful place. Art Good has done such a great job there and I love it every time I get to play there. I like playing all different venues.“ He points out, “At the large festivals, you get so much energy from the big crowds but it’s also cool to really connect on a personal level at a small personal venue.”
Luckily for Darren Rahn, he excels at multi-tasking by handling the burdens of being a producer, musician, live performer, and a conscientious family man. But even though he seems so mutable and able to change like a chameleon to match each new setting, he is very much steadfast to one brand of saxophone, the P. Mauriat models. “I have played just about every saxophone out there and this one feels the best for me personally. There are so many good horns but I feel that for my style, there’s not a better horn made. P. Mauriat has made great modern advances in technology for saxophones. It’s really cool to be a part of it! I do test other friend’s saxophones, and like I said, there are so many good brands out there but I really am sold on the sound, feel and quality of the P. Mauriat saxophones.”
Darren Rahn is an artist who knows what he wants and pursues it. He has encountered people that have assisted him through the rough patches and moved him up the ladder each successive notch. He endorses, “Don’t wait for anyone to do it for you. You’ve got to find a way to develop your own individual voice as a songwriter, player, producer, engineer. If you base your future on what others can do for you, then you will almost certainly set yourself up for disappointment. Only you can decide what you aspire to, and then it’s up to you to go accomplish that.”
“Now of course,” he encourages, “it’s always important to have good people around you, but you need to be capable by yourself in case those around you don’t have the time to help. Network with as many people as possible, as much as possible, try not to burn any bridges, return phone calls no matter how insignificant they seem, always deliver at the highest level you can, and always try to give people more than they ask of you. In my experience, these things are tried, tested and true. Here’s the most important thing that anyone ever told me about my music career: ‘Don’t look for that Big Break or for any Big Doors to open, just every time a small door opens, go through it.’ That’s the truth, plain and simple.”
And of course, it helps that Darren Rahn has a big sunny smile and a bubbly brightness around himself.
For more information: www.darrenrahn.com
Photo by: © Max Ewing
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