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Daniel Smith

With his many critically acclaimed award-winning recordings and live performances, Daniel Smith is the most recorded bassoon soloist in the world, with a repertoire spanning music from jazz to classical and crossover. As the only bassoonist performing and recording in both jazz and classical, his unique career has been profiled in numerous publications; described as the ‘Gerry Mulligan of the Bassoon’ in the world of jazz, and the ‘Rampal of the Bassoon’ in classical music. Daniel Smith’s historic 5 CD box set of the complete 37 Vivaldi bassoon concertos, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and The Zagreb Soloists, was chosen as ‘Best Concerto Recording’ of the Year’ by the Music Industry Association. His pioneering crossover albums, ‘Bassoon Bon Bons’ and ‘Bravo Bassoon’, have demonstrated how versatile the bassoon can be in adapting music in other genres to the instrument. His critically acclaimed jazz albums, ‘Bebop Bassoon’ and ‘The Swingin’ Bassoon’ (Zah Zah) were followed by ‘Blue Bassoon’ and ‘Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!’ (Summit). Other recordings of Daniel Smith can be found on Vox, MHS, KemDisc, Pearl, Spectrum, Cambria, Regis, Crystal and Forum. Noteworthy performances include premieres of Gunther Schuller’s ‘Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra’, Steve Gray’s ‘Jazz Suite for Bassoon and Orchestra’ and Robert Farnon’s jazz-oriented bassoon concerto, ‘Romancing the Phoenix’. Smith has presented solo concerts at New York’s Lincoln Center and the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen. His many recordings are heard throughout the world on jazz and classical radio stations, National Public Radio in the USA, on major airlines for in-flight listening, as well as being featured with leading book and record clubs and the Muzak network. Winner of the annual Jazz Station Poll as ‘Player of the Year’, Daniel Smith has also been voted ‘Rising Star’ by the Downbeat critic’s poll and nominated twice by the Jazz Journalists Association as finalist for their ‘Player of the Year’ award. In Great Britain, Smith was designated as ‘Ambassador for the Bassoon, along with the City of Luton presenting the ‘Daniel Smith Season’; showcasing his talents in concerto performances, in recital with piano, and in a jazz concert with his quartet. Performances with his acclaimed jazz ensemble, ‘Bassoon and Beyond’, include appearances in NYC at Puppets Jazz Club, Café Vivaldi, The Tea Lounge, The Kitano Jazz Club (5 times), the Brooklyn Conservatory Concert Hall, the Brooklyn VA Hospital, and at Barge Music. Other performances featuring jazz include the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Twins Jazz Club in Washington D.

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: Jazz Suite for Bassoon

Read "Jazz Suite for Bassoon" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Jazz Suite is the second album by bassoonist Daniel Smith to be reviewed in these precincts (Smokin' Hot Bassoon Blues was the first). This one is far more agreeable, for at least two reasons: first, the territory Smith traverses seems to be relatively more familiar (especially the “Baroque Adaptations") and, second, he manages to play squarely on-key, which wasn't always the case on Smokin' Hot Blues. The Scott Joplin rags (there are three) are always a pleasure to hear, even ...

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!

Read "Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


It's about that sound--that down there, frog-like bellowing encountered on cartoon soundtracks, novelty TV commercials, and that marvelously masculine sound heard in the greatest of orchestral and chamber music repertoire. Rarely is the bassoon heard blowing improvisation in the jazz idiom, athough with the works of Daniel Smith, Paul Hanson and others, that's changing. Daniel Smith Goes Latin Jazz! is a good-natured, upbeat effort to take Smith's crossover bassoon into the world of Latin Jazz. And the ...

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!

Read "Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


The bassoon seems to be the homebody of the orchestral woodwind family. This double-reed dynamo rarely leaves the confines of the classical world, instead finding contentment in its comfort zone, playing classic works of yore. On the rare occasion that the instrument does wander outside of its safety net to converse in other musical environments, it often meets with mixed results and critical derision. While the skilled bassoon practitioners who are willing to take a chance in jazz deserve a ...

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: Blue Bassoon

Read "Blue Bassoon" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


When many people hear discussions about the bassoon, they are far more likely to think of “Peter And The Wolf" than Charlie Parker and Wayne Shorter tunes. While jazz is open to any-and-all-comers in every instrument family, the technical demands of the bassoon--an unwieldy double reed instrument that rarely leaves the confines of classical music--and its unique voice have always made it an unlikely candidate. Fortunately, unlikely and undoable are two different things and Daniel Smith aims to show this ...

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Interview

Daniel Smith: Bassoon Reaching New Places

Read "Daniel Smith: Bassoon Reaching New Places" reviewed by R.J. DeLuke


The bassoon is an instrument that isn't a total stranger to jazz. Some have doubled on bassoon at times, but even that isn't often. Others have incorporated it into their compositions and arrangements. (See Michael Rabinowitz tear it up as part of the Mingus Orchestra some time). But it's reaching new places and new audiences with the “arrival," as it were, of Daniel Smith, a Brooklyn-born musician who reached acclaim with the instrument in the classical world and is taking ...

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: The Swingin' Bassoon

Read "The Swingin' Bassoon" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


The bassoon is a difficult instrument to navigate. Yusef Lateef, Ken McIntyre and Frankie Trumbauer are among the few who have played it, although the fit into jazz is often less than tidy. Daniel Smith has sufficient technique to give his instrument of choice an interesting enough voice.

Smith has focus and creativity, which he shows to a large extent on this recording of standards. While he entices when he swings and stokes the flames of a ballad, there are ...

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Album Review

Daniel Smith: Bebop Bassoon

Read "Bebop Bassoon" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The bassoon is rarely heard in jazz. The big, deep-toned double reed instrument is much more at home in the classical world. When encountered in a jazz setting, it's usually in larger ensemble recordings, painting dark colors in the harmonies. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter's classic Alegria (Verve, 2003) is a good example of the more common usage in the genre.Daniel Smith's Bebop Bassoon takes the instrument into uncharted territory--out front, with a piano/bass/drums rhythm section in support, like a ...

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Obituary

Daniel Smith, The World’s Most Recorded Bassoon Soloist dies at 77

Daniel Smith, The World’s Most Recorded Bassoon Soloist dies at 77

Source: Michael Ricci

Daniel Smith, who was one of the few bassoonists recording and performing in both Jazz and Classical music, described as the “Gerry Mulligan of The Bassoon", in the world of Jazz and the “Rampal of The Bassoon" in classical music, dies at 77 on December 19, 2015 in Brooklyn, NY. The cause of death was an aggressive infection that led to cardiac arrest. His daughter Jacqueline Smith confirmed his death. Bronx-born Daniel Smith studied music at Manhattan School of Music, ...

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Crowdfunding Campaign

Deutsch Gramophone Decca Artist Daniel Smith Launches Kickstarter Campaign For New Independent Project - Jazz Suite For Bassoon!

Deutsch Gramophone Decca Artist Daniel Smith Launches Kickstarter Campaign For New Independent Project  - Jazz Suite For Bassoon!

Source: Nu Jazz Publicity

Daniel Smith has had an illustrious career over the years showcasing the potential of the Bassoon in classical, jazz and crossover. With his many recordings and live performances, he has taken the Bassoon into uncharted territory with ground breaking and award winning albums. Along with recording fifty concertos with orchestra, his albums featuring crossover, ragtime, bebop, swing, Latin, and now this unique Jazz Suite for Bassoon, have demonstrated just how versatile a bassoon can be, and performed at the highest ...

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Recording

New CD from Daniel Smith "Blue Bassoon" Due on Summit Records

New CD from Daniel Smith "Blue Bassoon" Due on Summit Records

Source: Michael Ricci

The New York Daily News says that Daniel Smith is the greatest bassoon player of his generation. That says it all coming from a publication in a city that serves as the hotbed of jazz for a worldwide audience. Blue Bassoon on the Summit Records imprint hits the streets January 12, 2010. The anticipation in the jazz community will be gathering momentum prior to this landmark release. Blue Bassoon offers up thirteen solid tracks of bebop, post-bop and blues standards ...

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Interview

Crossover Bassoonist Daniel Smith Interviewed at AAJ

Crossover Bassoonist Daniel Smith Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

The bassoon is an instrument that isn't a total stranger to jazz. Some have doubled on bassoon at times, but even that isn't often. Others have incorporated it into their compositions and arrangements. (See Michael Rabinowitz tear it up as part of the Mingus Orchestra some time). But it's reaching new places and new audiences with the “arrival," as it were, of Daniel Smith, a Brooklyn-born musician who reached acclaim with the instrument in the classical world and is taking ...

97

Performance / Tour

Daniel Smith Be Bop Bassoon at Night & Day Friday, Sept. 1st sets 9 & 10:30 PM

Daniel Smith Be Bop Bassoon at Night & Day Friday, Sept. 1st sets 9 & 10:30 PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Daniel Smith Be Bop Bassoon at NIGHT & DAY Monday, September 1st two sets 9PM and 10:30PM cover charge $10 Night and Day 230 5th Ave. (@ President St.) Park Slope, Brooklyn (718) 399-2161 http://www.nightanddayrestaurant.com Daniel Smith - Bassoon MAMIKO WATANABE - PIANO MICHAEL O"BRIEN - BASS Phil Macurano - DRUMS

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Performance / Tour

Daniel Smith Be Bop Bassoon CD Release Event Tues. July 11th 8PM at St. Peter's Church

Daniel Smith Be Bop Bassoon CD Release Event Tues. July 11th 8PM at St. Peter's Church

Source: All About Jazz

CD Release Event Tuesday, July 11 8:00 PM One Set from 8:00 TO 9:00 St. Peter's Church 619 Lexington Ave (E. 54th St.) 212 935-2200

$15.00 - $10.00 for students

“BeBop Bassoon" Daniel Smith - Bassoon with the Don Friedman Trio Don Friedman - Piano Ron McClure - Bass Tony Jefferson - Drums

Celebrating the release of his ...

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Performance / Tour

Daniel Smith "Bassoon and Beyond" CD Release Event Tuesday, July 11th 8PM at St. Peter's Church

Daniel Smith "Bassoon and Beyond" CD Release Event Tuesday, July 11th 8PM at St. Peter's Church

Source: All About Jazz

CD Release Event TUESDAY, JULY 11, @ 8:00 PM, ONE SET FROM 8:00 TO 9:00 AT ST PETER'S CHURCH 619 LEXINGTON AVE ( E.54TH ST) TEL. 212 935-2200

$15.00 - AND $10.00 FOR STUDENTS.

BASSOON AND BEYOND Daniel Smith - Bassoon with the Don Friedman Trio Don Friedman - Piano Ron McClure - Bass Tony Jefferson - Drums

Celebrating the release of ...

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Recording

Free Download from Bassoon And Beyond featuring Daniel Smith + Live Appearance w/the Don Friedman Trio Tuesday, July 11th @ 8:00 PM St. Peter's Church

Free Download from Bassoon And Beyond featuring Daniel Smith + Live Appearance w/the Don Friedman Trio Tuesday, July 11th @ 8:00 PM St. Peter's Church

Source: All About Jazz

Free Download

This message is to let you know that the following track is now being featured as a Download of the Day at AllAboutJazz.com “Killer Joe" by Daniel Smith

More details here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownload.php?id=1453

CD Release Event Tuesday, July 11 8:00 PM One Set from 8:00 TO 9:00 St. Peter's Church 619 Lexington Ave (E.54TH ST) 212 935-2200 $15.00 ($10.00 for students) ...

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Recording

Daniel Smith Releases "BeBop Bassoon" on Zah Zah Records

Daniel Smith Releases "BeBop Bassoon" on Zah Zah Records

Source: All About Jazz

Daniel Smith BeBop Bassoon Zah Zah ZZCD 9820 Street Date: June 1, 2006 On BeBop Bassoon, Daniel Smith introduces the jazz world to his unique sound on the first ever compact disc recording of straight ahead bop classics on the deep voiced horn. The most recorded bassoon soloist in the history of music, Smith has spent a lifetime bringing his challenging instrument to the fore - stretching the boundaries of the bassoon's repertoire beyond ...

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Performance / Tour

BBC Show To Feature The Music Of Daniel Smith

BBC Show To Feature The Music Of Daniel Smith

Source: All About Jazz

May 16, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] BBC SHOW TO FEATURE THE MUSIC OF DANIEL SMITH BBC Radio 4 will present a show featuring the music of Daniel Smith in the month of May. The show, to be broadcast twice and reaching a listening audience of over one million, will feature cuts from his various albums and an interview with Daniel about his career. Dates for the two broadcasts are Tuesday 17th May ...

Music

Scrapple From The Apple

From: The Swingin' Bassoon
By Daniel Smith

Killer Joe

From: Bebop Bassoon
By Daniel Smith

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