Boston area-based bassist, composer, and arranger Allan Hirt has been making music since he picked up a Fender Mustang Bass that was nearly bigger than him. Hailing from just outside of Philadelphia, he remains a Philadelphia sports fan.
Although his first love was and will always be rock, Allan’s heart for decades has been jazz. He often pays tribute to his favorite bands through jazz arrangements of tunes like Rush’s “Working Man”, Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out”, “Mr. Roboto” by Styx, and “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters.
Focusing on jazz has not stopped Allan from occasional forays back into rock including a stint as the bassist and keyboard player in a Rush tribute band. He has also played in numerous pit bands for musicals such as “Peter Pan”, “Into the Woods”, “Assassins”, “Bye Bye Birdie”, and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.
Over the years, Allan has played alongside Ricky Ford, Ran Blake, Alan Dawson, Steve Lacy, members of the Heavy Metal Horns, and more.
His writing and arranging style is heavily influenced by the classic Tonight Show Band led by Doc Severinsen (Volume II is one of Allan’s desert island discs), Bob Mintzer, Bill Holman, Thelonious Monk, and Bob Florence. Allan often brings big band sensibilities into a small band setting. He also scored and musical directed a friend’s musical entitled “Platterplatinum” in the 90s.
After releasing albums with a few bands between the mid-1990s and early 2000s, Allan returned with his first solo abum, Moving Forward (2022). His next album Looking Forward (2024) reached 93 on the JazzWeek charts. He is currently finishing up a trio album due to be released in 2026, and is planning a few new projects including a follow up to the trio album, an album or EP of jazzified Rush songs, and his long awaited big band project.
When he is not playing, gigging, composing, or arranging, Allan slips into his alter ego as a recognized SQL Server, availability, virtualization, and cloud expert who does consulting, speaking, and training through his company SQLHA. To find out more, hop over to the SQLHA website.
Allan Hirt
Allan’s creativity spans beyond music. Since he was a kid, he has always loved to write as well as do artistic things such as drawing. He actually wanted to be an architect or an animator but went down the route which led him to SQLHA. To this day, Allan still loves animation and even designed all of the album art for each of his releases.
His eye for color and design also stems back to his early days, inherited from his mother. Over the years he has put those skills to good use for branding, whether it was for himself, his company, or someone else. There’s a reason SQLHA’s branding has been so strong for a long time. He is now offering his branding services to a wider audience.
If you’ve ever seen Allan out and about, you know he has style whether he is dressed up or down. His fashion and color sense is also something he inherited from Mom. Friends have asked Allan for fashion advice and now he is working with people who are ready transform their wardrobe or just need styling or creative direction for a specific occasion.