PAUL HANSON RELEASES NEW ALBUM 2008 Release from amazing bassoonist Paul Hanson. What the unbelievable Hanson does on bassoon -- an exceedingly difficult instrument to play and one almost exclusively associated with classical music -- is akin to what other innovators like guitarists Charlie Hunter and Stanley Jordan, banjoist Bela Fleck and bassist Jaco Pastorius have done with their respective instruments. Like those musical revolutionaries, Hanson has created a vibrant new, expansive vocabulary through a combination of virtuosity, vision and soul, as he demonstrates so profoundly on Frolic in the Land of Plenty. Paul has performed with Medeski Martin and Wood, Bob Weir's Ratdog, Wayne Shorter, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Oaktown Irawo, Steve Smith, Peter Erskine, Ray Charles, Dewey Redman, Roy Wooten and the ROYEL Philharmonic, Eddie Money, Bob Moses, Alan Broadbent, Don Cherry, Boz Scaggs, Kotoja, The Temptations, The Paul Dresher Ensemble, St. Joseph Ballet Company, The Klezmorim, Chamber Music West, and as soloist with the Napa Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared on recordings with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Peter Erskine, Paul McCandless, Omar Sosa, Jesus Diaz, Billy Higgins, Billy Childs, The Paul Dresher Ensemble, Ray Obiedo, Darol Anger, Brian Bromberg, Chester Thompson, Eddie Money, David Garibaldi, Kotoja, and Peter Apfelbaum and The Hieroglyphics Ensemble. His major festival performances include North Sea Jazz Festival, The Ravinia Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Leverkuzen Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival-England, The 1999 NAMM Show/Nashville, Monterey Blues Festival, and the Interlink Festival in Japan. By electrifying his double reed instrument and incorporating elements of bebop, fusion, Bulgarian, ambient and rock-fueled grunge, the Bay Area bassoonist pushes the envelope on what his notoriously unwieldy instrument can do. Violinist Darol Anger of the Turtle Island String Quartet once likened what Hanson does to winning the Kentucky Derby on a camel. That perfectly describes his ability to blow with uncommon fluidity and expressiveness on jazzy fare like “Parallax" and the gently swinging 3/4 number “Sacred Love," or with such remarkable over-the-barline abandon as he demonstrates on the exotic and slamming “Dark Soul." Drummer Dennis Chambers whips up a whirlwind of intensity on “Subtle Demons," an Bulgarian flavored fusion romp which sounds like a page out of the Shakti book and highlights Hanson emulating an Indian vina with his non-tempered bassoon work. On the blazing fusion vehicle “Emerald Mile," his electric bassoon flurries on a labyrinth of intricate unisons with violinist Tracy Silverman sound like a wailing electric guitar (Hansons scorching solo at the tag sounds more like Steve Vai than any bassoon player youve ever heard). And on the fuzz-laden grunge anthem “Scrool," Hanson and crew summon up the heavy metal assault of Black Sabbath's “Iron Man." Elsewhere, the bassoon virtuoso flaunts impeccable intonation and precision chops on a startling duet with pandeiro player Caito Marcondes on Brazilian composer Jacob Do Bandolim's sprightly choro “Flight of the Fly"(an opening as stunningly audacious as Jaco Pastorius opening his solo debut with a bass-conga rendition of Charlie Parker's “Donna Lee"). And on the swinging, Brecker Brothers influenced “Goof Troop," Hanson plays his second horn, tenor sax, with equal conviction, chops and inspiration. This is earth-shaking stuff by a musical renegade who is clearly forging a new path on a most unusual instrument.