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Saxophonist Devin Daniels
“I always tell people I’m trying to bring that toxic New York swing energy to L.A.,” saxophonist Devin Daniels confesses to Nate Chinen in the liner notes to his new album, LesGo!
The Inglewood, Calif., native apparently came back to home state with some of that combative East Coast attitude after his stint at the famous Berklee College of Music. It certainly shows right from the first notes of the title track (and opener) of his new album; after a brief, ornate alto-sax cadenza, Daniels leads his quintet in a joyous, driving theme that makes one immediately take notice. When the young saxophonist’s solo reaches its apex, with only drummer Benjamin Ring backing him, the listener is by then more than convinced that his is a voice to be reckoned with.
It will come as no surprise to learn that Daniels is a regular with the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (PAPA). Since its founding by Horace Tapscott in the early 1960s, the community-based ensemble has been a breeding ground for creative African-American musicians on the West Coast (on LesGo!, the altoist pays tribute to the band with N**’s N**, a piece which oscillates between a simple rhythmic idea and a declamatory theme). But while a PAPA gig is certainly quite an education, the young saxophonist (he’s still in his 20s!) also had solid formal training at Berklee, where George Garzone was one of his teachers, then for a year abroad (in Basel, Switzerland), and finally at the prestigious Herbie Hancock Institute of Performance at UCLA. Hancock himself took a liking to the altoist, recruiting him for his Herbie Hancock Celebrates Wayne Shorter concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 2023, alongside such legends as Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Terence Blanchard, and saxophone stars Chris Potter and Kamasi Washington. “Devin is an amazing young talent creating new directions in music,” the veteran pianist is quoted as saying. Hancock isn’t the only jazz great who noticed Daniels’s talent: the saxophonist also participated in various projects under the leadership of Ralph Peterson Jr. or Carlos Niño and released hip-hop tracks under the alias Kara; he is also featured on trumpeter Julien Knowles’s debut album on Biophilia Records, As Many, As One, released last spring.
Daniels’s first release as a leader, 2022’s Trio Exposition (The Village VLG 005, with bassist Logan Kane and drummer Christian Euman), already showed much promise on a few chosen repertory pieces by Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and Duke Ellington, on a spiritual, and on an original composition, the hip-hop infused Eerie. Now, with Hancock Institute classmates Knowles and Ring, plus pianist Chris Fishman and bassist Jermaine Paul, the live LesGo! gives perhaps the fullest picture of what Daniels has to offer.
Devin Daniels: “LesGo!” (Sam First Records)
After 6½ minutes of “toxic New York swing energy,” the already-mentioned title track briefly dissolves into an open-form improvisation. But soon Daniels picks up the tempo once again to lead the band into a version of one of John Coltrane’s trickiest pieces, the Giant Steps-era Spiral, played here (with ease!) in 11/8 time—for more than 14 minutes! Daniels’s swirling alto briefly turns to a swinging interlude around the nine-minute mark before going back to the initial groove without skipping a beat. Two other jazz repertory pieces (only available on the expanded digital version of the album) receive a similar treatment: an 11-minute version of Charlie Parker’s Scrapple from the Apple, introduced by an almost telepathic duet between Daniels and Knowles, and Thelonious Monk’s Ugly Beauty, clocking at just over eight minutes.
Daniels confesses that he was exposed to the sound of the saxophone early, as his father was a fan of Smooth Jazz. Maybe the suave sonorities of Grover Washington Jr. and David Sanborn influenced his more melodic pieces—like Reckon, Nothing Song or Enjoy—but the unaware listener will never know it, the way these melodies are amplified, recast and improvised upon.
Encountering Devin Daniels on LesGo! certainly proves an exhilarating experience and leaves one wondering what the young saxophonist’s next step will be. One thing is for sure: we will be listening!
Follow this link to listen to an excerpt and/or buy LesGo! on vinyl or digital format.
ARCHIVE OF THE MONTH
Centennial
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band Archeophone Records (ARCH 6014), August 2024
For most of today’s listeners, the name of Joe “King” Oliver evokes a semi-legendary character, whose brief fame in Jazz Age Chicago is forever encapsulated into a series of old 78s from 100 years ago. For the modern audiophile, those venerable recordings (whatever their historical significance—and they were, after all, Louis Armstrong’s first!) are all but unapproachable. Already in 1949, Boris Vian confessed that he “could never listen to a King Oliver (record) from the great era, because the recordings are just awful.” With the Centennial set, the good folks at Archeophone Records have come closest to recreating the initial thrill of those who first came across the old Gennett, OKeh, Columbia and Paramount records when they were first released in 1923. Going back to the original 78s, a team of specialists has carefully transferred and remastered them—and they certainly have never sounded better! With the original Oliver sides spread over two LPs AND two CDs, Centennial also offers as bonuses two additional CDs. The first, titled Louis’ Record Collection, is a fascinating look at early 20th-century recordings; the second, titled Joe’s Jazz Kingdom, has contemporary 1920s jazz and hot bands. This is an exceptional reissue, not to be missed!
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