Deeply influenced by the profound and powerful heritages of Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, along with his inexhaustable list of significant influences including Richard Strauss, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, James Brown, Claude Debussy, Joe Henderson, Jaco Pastorius, Maurice Ravel, Freddie Hubbard, The Beatles, Nat King Cole, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Gustav Mahler, Pat Metheny,Kenny Dorham, Bob Marley, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Hector Berlioz, Horace Silver,Led Zepplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, The Roots, Weather Report, Count Basie, Ornette Coleman, Hank Mobley, Sarah Vaughn, Ben Webster, and Billy Strayhorn, Elias embeds the best of these traditions into the foundations of his own compositions.

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Elias Haslanger is a young, up and coming saxophonist, highly- coveted and prolific performer who has performed with an incredible who’s-who list of musicians including Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, Martin Banks, Roy Hargrove, Harry Connick, Jr., Wes Anderson, Ryan Kisor, Chucho Valdes, Lew Soloff, Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Russell Malone, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Jesse Davis, Steve Turre, Al Grey, Peter Martin, Donald Edwards, Allen Farnham, Roland Guerin, Fred Sanders, Edwin Livingston, JJ Johnson, Brannen Temple, Kirk Whalum, Joe LoCascio, Tony Campise, Asleep at the Wheel, Mitch Watkins, Bob Meyer, Jae Sinnett, Marvin Stamm,The Temptations, The Four Tops. James Polk, and countless others. Elias has opened for the legendary McCoy Tyner and jazz greats Kenny Garrett and Terence Blanchard. Mentored by the legendary classical saxophonist Harvey Pittel and by Dick Oatts (of the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band & Red Rodney Quintet), Elias began to explore the instrument’s vast potential, studying saxophone at the University of Texas and the Manhattan School of Music, receiving his Master’s Degree in Composition at Southwest Texas State. In 1997,