Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway: Duke at the Roadhouse

IPO Recordings
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Duke at the Roadhouse

The jazz world offers musicians, great musicians and master musicians. This album features two of the latter: Eddie Daniels, who plays clarinet, tenor and alto sax, flute and piccolo; and Roger Kellaway, who plays piano, composes and arranges. They collectively have more than a century of experience, and are fluent in both the jazz and classical genres. 

They’re peers; Daniels was born in 1941, and Kellaway in 1939. Daniels’ first instrument was the alto sax, but he switched to tenor, then added the clarinet by the time he entered college. Since the early 1980s, clarinet has been his primary instrument. Kellaway has concentrated on the piano, but he also describes himself as a cello addict. In classical circles, he’s probably best known for his 1970s cello quartet recordings.

It’s difficult to find jazz-related individuals, or organizations, that Daniels and Kellaway haven’t worked with, and almost as hard to find classical ensembles that didn’t feature them. Both have won numerous awards.

This album isn’t their first collaboration; I reviewed — and loved — Duet of One several years ago. This time out, Daniels and Kellaway are honoring Duke Ellington’s music. The menu therefore includes seven of Duke’s compositions (“In a Sentimental Mood,” “Sophisticated Lady” and others), along with one that Duke didn’t write, but always has been associated with him: Juan Tizol’s “Perdido.” The disc is rounded out by two originals: Daniels’ “Duke at the Roadhouse” and Kellaway’s “Duke in Ojai.” 

For the most part, these tracks are presented as duets: Kellaway on piano, Daniels on clarinet or tenor sax. A cello is added a few times; be advised that Kellaway wrote every note for that instrument, including the solo passages.

This is a must-have album, particularly for Ellington fans. It’s the jazz equivalent of watching da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa.

Steve Williams and Jazz Nation

OA2 Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Steve Williams and Jazz Nation

Composer, arranger and saxophonist Steve Williams is another of the many individuals who is famous within the music world, but relatively unknown outside it. He’s a graduate of the University of North Texas — formally North Texas State University, an institution that has produced a number of great jazz musicians — and Florida State University; during his 35 years as a freelance musician, he has worked with, and done arrangement for, numerous name artists and orchestras. 

Because it’s no longer economically feasible to operate with a true “big band” these days, he formed Jazz Nation in 2010, comprising musicians in the Washington, D.C., area, as a vehicle for his original compositions and arrangements. This is that group’s debut release. 

Close your eyes, and you’ll be carried back to the days of Ellington, Herman and Kenton, followed by more recent orchestras led by Blakey, Cunliffe, Florence, Gillespie, Hawk-Richard, Jones and others. The ensemble features five reeds, eight brass, four rhythm players (including a guitar) and guest artist Eddie Daniels, on clarinet and tenor sax.

The album kicks off with “Certified,” and the opening two choruses, featuring the rhythm section, nailed me! Now, that’s the way some of those great old bands used to sound! Williams is more a traditionalist than a bopper, and he totally avoids the ultra-modernist style that so many young composers are producing. This band, and its members, truly swing! 

Williams’ charts are exceptional, all the soloists are excellent, and Daniels simply has no peers. Great clarinetists are all but extinct these days, and when you realize that Daniels also plays masterful tenor sax, you just sit in awe. 

I hope we’ll hear a lot more from Steve Williams and Jazz Nation.

Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway: Live at the Library of Congress

IPO Recordings
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Live at the Library of Congress

There are musicians, famous musicians and icons; Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway fall into the latter category. Both are 70-something years young; both have classical and jazz backgrounds.

Daniels’ first instrument was the alto sax, which he played in the Newport Jazz Youth Festival at age 15; he had added clarinet to his arsenal upon entering college, and he subsequently included the tenor sax, which was his horn when hired by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band. Since the 1980s, however, Daniels has concentrated on the clarinet.

Kellaway’s experience began in the classical genre, then expanded into pop and jazz. His early love was the piano (at age 7), but he also studied the double bass; his first “road” job was as a bassist. After several years, however, he returned to the piano. His early fame came as an accompanist to great vocalists such as Lena Horne and Tony Bennett, and Kellaway later became musical director for Bobby Darrin. But Kellaway truly shined as a composer; he has written scores for TV, films, ballets and concert orchestras, and has won Grammy Awards and their equivalent in France.

Daniels and Kellaway have performed together numerous times. Some time ago, I was blown away by another of their IPO releases (A Duet of One); this new album, performed live in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, is its equal.

Performances at that facility are quite an honor, and more than 2,000 have taken place over the years. Attendance is usually free, so attendance usually is standing-room only. These concerts cater to all aspects of the arts, but jazz performances are relatively limited.

This performance features 10 well known and much-loved compositions: jazz standards (“Rhythm-a-ning,” by Thelonious Monk; “Just Friends” by Klenner & Lewis), show tunes (“Strike Up the Band,” by the Gershwins; “Somewhere,” by Leonard Bernstein; and “Pretty Women,” by Stephen Sondheim); traditional tunes (“America the Beautiful”); and originals by both Daniels and Kellaway. It’s a stunning collection and performance.

During the early years of jazz, the clarinet was a star instrument: Barney Bigard, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Woody Herman are just a few of the famous names. But as time passed, and big bands proliferated, the alto, tenor and baritone saxes rose to prominence. Only a few top clarinetists remain, and Daniels is at the top of the list.

Kellaway also is a champion at his skill set. What more could one desire, than to hear these two artists together?

Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway: A Duet of One

IPO Recordings
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.3.09
Buy CD: A Duet of One

This is one of the most beautiful, innovative and impressive albums I've reviewed in a long time.

During his early years, pianist Roger Kellaway was best known for his writing, and as an accompanist for “name” vocalists; he didn't begin to play and record as a leader until he was eligible for Social Security. Eddie Daniels has played reed instruments for decades; during the 1960s and '70s, he was featured on tenor sax with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and other bands, then in the '80s began to concentrate on his clarinet.

We're fortunate that both artists have extensive discographies.

A Duet of One was recorded live at The Bakery — a Los Angeles jazz club — over a four-day period in early 2005, but wasn't released until now. Daniels and Kellaway are the duet; as the title implies, their performances were so musically “linked” that they played as one. They didn't use arrangements, instead relying on lead sheets, which contain just the melody and chords.

They also didn't rehearse. Everything that ensued flowed from their experience and innovative talent.

Four of these 10 tunes are jazz standards: “I'm Getting Sentimental Over You,” “I Want to Be Happy,” “New Orleans” and “After You've Gone.” I guarantee that you've never heard these old chestnuts played this way. Of the remaining original compositions, Kellaway wrote two, and Daniels wrote four; all are as impressive as the standards.

The result wasn't just a session; it was a capital-C Concert!

Don't miss this marvelous CD.

Eddie Daniels: Homecoming — Live at the Iridium

IPO Recordings
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 1.3.08
Buy CD: Homecoming: Live at the Iridium

It has been so long since I've heard a really great clarinetist, that I'd forgotten what one sounds like. 

Enter Eddie Daniels. 

He has been around for quite awhile, but when I first encountered him, he was playing tenor sax with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band. He was "merely" another of the excellent tenor players working at that time (1966-73), and I kind of lost track of him. 

Then, in the 1980s, Daniels put his sax in the closet and concentrated on clarinet. And even though he subsequently released a number of albums featuring that instrument, I wasn't aware of any until this "Homecoming" release. Shame on me! 

I grew up in the big band era, when "the" clarinetists were Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Well, Daniels makes both of them sound like high-school kids. And because this album is pure, straight-ahead jazz — the kind Goodman and Shaw played — you can judge my assessment for yourself. 

You have plenty from which to make such a comparison; this double-CD release contains 15 tracks, half a dozen of them jazz standards. 

Daniels' quintet consists of him on both clarinet and tenor sax, Joe Locke on vibes, Tom Ranier on piano, Dave Finch on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums. These guys swing like crazy, and the fact that the album was recorded live at New York's Iridium just makes it better 

Daniels thought highly of the Modern Jazz Quartet, and three of these tracks illustrate that fact. You'll hear two versions of that group's famous "Django," written by MJQ pianist John Lewis: one an extended, 14-minute cut that's just marvelous; and a 7-minute bonus track. They're accompanied by "Déjà vu MJQ," written by Roger Kellaway. 

Daniels wrote three of the other tunes; the rest include Ellington, Cole Porter and Rogers & Hart melodies. 

I can't give more than five stars, but this is the best album I heard in 2007. Even the liner notes and CD design are superior.