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For Immediate Release

The highest slots on the Billboard Top 100 may be clotted with performers barely out of high school, but esteemed saxophonist Mad Duran, releasing her first solo CD at age 54, is completely comfortable competing with the kids. 
“I know something they don’t,” smiles Duran as she prepares for the March 26 CD release party, to be held at Yoshi’s, the vaunted bastion for the best in Bay Area jazz. “I know that communicating a collection of notes with an innovative, pure, and lyrical interpretation takes time and maturity. Which, in my fifth decade, I believe I have.”
That wasn’t always the case. Her initial stabs at finding her own sound on the tenor sax were rife with youthful energy, but not much else. “I realized that yes, I was taking risks and being innovative—but I sounded horrible. When I started to settle down, take perhaps what might be described as a more intuitive approach, my playing started getting a lot of notice.” Pausing, she adds, with a laugh, “The good kind.”
It’s a typical understatement from the musician whose lyrical playing has earned her nods from the likes of legendary saxophonist Paul Desmond. She has also been described by noted jazz critics as “a pleasing treat,” “fluid,” and “inspired,” with “marvelous melodic interpolations and dynamic phrasing.”  Despite such accolades, Duran remains charmingly humble.
And it’s not as though she hasn’t earned it. Although “Simply Mad” is her first solo outing, Duran has over two decades of experience on stage and in the recording studio, most of it with her husband of 24 years, acclaimed jazz guitarist Eddie Duran.
At the time they met, Mad (short for Madaline) was a classically trained clarinetist who had also dabbled with the tenor sax since age 12. 
“I was looking for a new direction for my music and went to a jazz festival in Cotati in hopes of finding some inspiration. I found Eddie. If you want to get inspired about music,” Duran laughs, “just hang around Eddie. Not only did I get inspired—I fell in love. Two decades later, he is still inspiring me.”
Case in point; her new CD, “Simply Mad,” a collection of lush, mostly lesser known standards, along with two original compositions by her husband. 
“Eddie really encouraged me to do this project. He made me believe in it, even when I wasn’t sure this was the right move for me.”
Duran’s minor trepidation probably stems less from the fact she is back to taking some big risks.
“’Simply Mad’ is not only my first solo album; it’s also my first recording with the alto,” she explains. “I find the alto, which is somewhat new to me, to be much more challenging than the tenor sax. It requires more refinement to get a pure tone, and it is a much less forgiving instrument. It has such a gorgeous resonance, but at the same time, it doesn’t have all the accepted variety of tone as the tenor. I love the challenge of keeping the listener  —and myself—intrigued.”  
And this, she says, is where maturity trumps youth any day. 
“They say with age comes wisdom,” observes Duran, whose sparkling blue eyes and vitality speak of a woman a decade younger. “A by-product of wisdom is patience, and in terms of jazz, it is patience that will ultimately result in a wonderful sound.”
What kid can compete with that?

“Simply Mad” from Mad Duran; CD release party, March 26 at Yoshi’s, San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore Street. For reservations and other information 415/655-5600 www.yoshis.com