Jazz is an art form with an outsized share of mavericks, rebels, and creative dissidents who’ve built careers by blazing their own particular paths. But the tried-and-true route is still a valuable option, and New York alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan has made the most out of the music’s supportive scaffolding.

She’s surrounded herself with mentors, paid dues as a side player in creatively challenging settings, and built up a reputation as a composer and bandleader with an ear for the stand-out younger players coming up just behind her.

After several four-night residencies at Black Cat, the Tenderloin jazz spot that’s turned into an early-warning system for heat-seeking young musicians, she’s back in the Bay Area to make her SFJAZZ Center debut with two shows at the Joe Henderson Lab Sept.

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