Dan Pratt

Saxophonist-composer Dan Pratt has been favored as “a powerful player” by Jazz Times, with the PA Daily News adding, “Pratt is an impressive tenor sax man. Seriously, he's got energy to blow buildings down with his horn and a style that's so elastic he can wrap it all back up together again when he's done.” As a composer, Dan has been called “gifted,” (Birmingham Times) and “a true home run power hitter” (All Music Guide) whose “writing for a band is its principal asset.” (Master of a Small House)

Following two critically-acclaimed organ group outings, Dan heads in a new direction on Hymn for the Happy Man, his fourth recording as a leader and debut for his own Same Island Music imprint. The California native and longtime Brooklyn resident hadn't recorded a piano/bass/drums quartet record before, and he felt a need to explore this instrumentation that is such an essential strand to jazz’s DNA. On Hymn for the Happy Man, Dan is backed by the all-star rhythm section of Christian McBride on bass, Greg Hutchinson on drums, and Mike Eckroth on piano. Together, they realize seven well-crafted originals and breathe new life into one well-chosen standard.

In his professional tenure, Dan has been at home as a soloist and section member in some of the finest ensembles on the scene, having performed and recorded with such artists as Christian McBride, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Fantasia, and Usher, in venues from the House of Blues to the White House. He is a founding member of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground collective, and is a regular member of the Christian McBride Big Band, the David Smith Quintet, and the Tammy Scheffer Sextet.

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Dan Pratt Saxophone

Album Review

Springloaded by AAJ Staff
Toe The Line by Dan Bilawsky
Toe the Line by Woodrow Wilkins

"Pratt exemplifies the approach of DPOQ. He composed most of the tunes on Springloaded, using challenging and unorthodox formal devices. Yet the tunes are accessible and melodic, and some of them, such as the uptempo burner "Who Knew," have the potential to become jazz standards. On tenor sax, Pratt has a huge, warm sound, and he improvises creatively and aggressively. He might play against the rhythm, and more often, he digs in and swings, as on "Blues With A Limp." —Marc Meyers, All About Jazz

"A warm, invigorating blast of N.Y.C. jazz energy recently blew through town, when the Dan Pratt Organ Quartet showed up at the Firebird Lounge. Pratt, a notable up-and-coming tenor-saxist-bandleader-composer, illustrated the self-evident point that jazz harbors many great players under the radar of public visibility... From Pratt's first solo, it was clear that he's grounded in the contemporary saxophonic language exemplified by players like Joe Lovano, but also lacks neither creative vigor or fresh ideas." —Josef Woodard, Santa Barbara Independent