Eddie Daniels and Bob James; Exploring New Worlds

Artist Bio:

 
Eddie Daniels Biography Eddie Daniels is that rarest of rare musicians who is not only equally at home in both jazz and classical music, but excels at both with breathtaking virtuosity. Expert testimony from the jazz world comes from eminent jazz critic, Leonard Feather, who said of Eddie, "It is a rare event in jazz where one man can all but reinvent an instrument bringing it to a new stage of revolution." From the classical side, Leonard Bernstein said, "Eddie Daniels combines elegance and virtuosity in a way that make s me remember Arthur Rubenstein. He is a thoroughly well-bred demon." Eddie fist came to the attention of the jazz audience as a tenor saxophonist with the Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra. When Thad and Mel first organized their band in 1966 to -lay Monday nights at the village Vanguard in Ne wYork (where it still plays today_), Eddie was one of the first musicians they called. Later that year, he sank $400 in a round-trip ticket to Vienna to enter the International Competition for Modern Jazz. a contest organized by the pianist Fredrich Guida and sponsored by the city of Vienna, and won first prize on saxophone. He continued working with Thad and Mel over the next several years and toured Europe extensively with them. A single clarinet solo recorded on "Live at the Village Vanguard" garnered sufficient attention for him to win Downbeat Magazine's International Critic's New Star on Clarinet Award. This conversion to clarinet was not new, for Eddie began clarinet at age 13 and received his Masters Degree from Juilliard, Winning numerous Grammy awards and nominations, Eddie Daniels revolutionized the blend of jazz and classical. In January 2014, Eddie won the Grand Prix de L'Academie du Jazz fro the best Jazz album of the year for "Duke at the Roadhouse", his CD with pianist, Roger Kellaway. September 2015 Eddie performed his version of Vivaldi's 4 Seasons at the Detroit Jazz Festival with members of the Detroit Symphony. In November 2015 Eddie will premiere composer Charles Fox's Quintet for Clarinet with the Harlem String Quartet. Eddie Daniels is clearly a renaissance musician, a virtuosos in both jazz and classical music, recipient of unreserved accolades from his peers, from critics, and from the public. Eddie's overriding ambition is to reach as many people as possible with his music, to enlarge the audience for both jazz and classical music and, at the same time, to tear down the walls separating them. In Eddie's hands, the music of Mozart can be as engaging as that of Charlie Parker and a concert featuring both can be a uniquely rewarding experience for the audience.