DMG NEWSLETTER FOR MARCH 21st, 2008
TED DANIEL QUINTET - "Tapestry" (Porter Records 1503; USA) Featuring
Ted Daniel on flugelhorn & trumpet, Richard Daniel on Rhodes electric
piano w/ wah-wah & echoplex, Khan Jamal on vibes, Tim Ingles on
fretless electric bass and Jerome Cooper on drums. Recorded at
Ornette Coleman’s Artist House on January 26th of 1974, produced by
Noah Howard and released on LP on Sun Records. This disc includes a
14+ minute bonus track, not found on the original album. Ted Daniel
and his brother Richard founded an obscure funk/jazz band Brute Force
around 1970 and recorded a fine album for Embryo that included their
cousin Sonny Sharrock on guitar. This long-forgotten album was
reissued by Water a few years back and worth checking out.
Ted, brother Richard and Tim Ingles were all members of Brute
Force and are also part of Ted’s quintet for this rare reissue.
Philly-based vibes master, Khan Jamal, and Revolutionary Ensemble
drummer, Jerome Cooper, complete this quintet. The opening track,
"Asadefo," is the unreleased bonus track. Although the sound quality
is far from perfect, the playing of this quintet is something else.
As Ted Daniel takes a long, high-flying solo, both Richard on
spaced-out electric piano and Khan on vibes along with the spirited
rhythm team swirl intensely around him. Nothing quite sounds like a
wah-wah pedal, echoplexed Fender Rhodes and I dig the way Richard
creates an undercurrent of electric waves. The rhythm team is
consistently killin’ and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard Jerome
Cooper sound like this as he whips up a powerful rhythmic storm. The
excitement factor is high and you can hear the audience members
screaming with approval at times. Richard’s "Tapestry" begins with
some sublime, electric piano and flugelhorn and has a great melody
and laid-back sound. Ted on flugel, Khan on vibes and Jerome on drums
all take long, spirited solos. "Sweet Dreams" is a somber ballad with
some lovely flugel from Ted Daniel. "Mozambique" is another intense,
powerful work with smokin’ flugel and eerie electric piano played
through a Leslie speaker, sounding ore like some spacious Sun Ra-like
organ. This is one colossal live date that is consistently spirited
throughout. - BLG
Ted Daniel began playing trumpet in elementary school. He began his professional career playing local gigs with his childhood friend, the legendary guitarist, Sonny Sharrock. Mr. Daniel attended Berklee School of music and Southern Illinois University before a tour of duty will U.S. Army Bands. After his discharge from the Army, Mr. Daniel attended Central State College, in Ohio, on a full music scholarship where he met and studied with Dr. Ken Makanda McIntyre. A year later, Mr. Daniel returned to NYC and eventually received a bachelor of music degree in theory and composition from the City College of New York. Mr. Daniel had begun his recording career while in Ohio returning to New York to record Sonny Sharrock's first album "Black Woman". His second recording was with a band he co-lead (Brute Force) with his brother, Richard Daniel. The recording was entitled "Brute Force" on the Embryo label, produced by Herbie Mann. Since then, Mr. Daniel has participated in over thirty published recordings with such great artist such as: Archie Shepp, Dewey Redman, Andrew Cyrille, Sam Rivers, Billy Bang and Henry Threadgill. Mr. Daniel has held workshops at Amherst College, Bennington College, Williams College and the University of Hosei in Tokyo, Japan. He has also conducted a seminar in Madrid, Spain as well as work in his community conducting summer music workshops for high and college age students. Mr. Daniel has produced three albums under his own name, which are entitled "The Ted Daniel Sextet" on Ujamaa records, "Tapestry" on Sun records and "In The Beginning" on Altura recordings. This recording features a twelve-piece ensemble featuring such artist as Oliver Lake, Arthur Blythe, Charles Tyler and David Murray. Eventually this ensemble evolved into a larger group entitled "Energy". Mr. Daniel has been the recipient of a NEA compositional grant and awarded Talent Deserving Wider recognition from Downbeat Magazine. Presently, Mr. Daniel is performing and recording with Charles Compo’s Doctor Phibes group; in addition Mr. Daniel is writing and performing with his new group, the International Brass and Membrane Corporation (IBMC). This trio was conceived as a flexible and expandable creative music performance group, which utilizes instruments from the brass and membrane instrument families. Most recently Ted has formed a duo with Michael Marcus on Bb clarinet and Ted on Trumpet and assorted brass. Their first release is on BoxHolder Records and is entitled Duology.
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Hi Ted, thanks for dropping in - I enjoyed my visit to your page. I have just finished a tourette with a fellow bugle blower and compatriot of yours, Bobby Bradford - good times. Bonne chance Nick Stephens, double bassist http://www. loosetorque. com
