About Dee
RECENT AWARDS...
• Legacy Award: National Congress of Black Women Foundation
• The Promise CD - Album, Contemporary Gospel, and Female Vocalist Silver Awards:
Global Music Awards
• Spiritual Artist of the Year: Western Canadian Music Awards
• The PROMISE CD - 2022 POP Awards (GERMANY) ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Music is not a just-discovered thing for her. She has a firm foundation in the church, singing in a church choir when she was younger. She was then attracted to the soul-touching and enticing beauty of R&B.
She is in tune with the music she sings, respecting its integrities and demanding that its stories are as clear as intended, adding her own coolness and spicing to give it her unique personal energy.
In her spirit is a love for visual art — she was a high-school art teacher — but music has this almost seductive tug, and all are forgiven for falling deeply for it as Dee did. Music education is a passion. She inspires students of voice through masterclasses, workshops, and scholarship offerings.
The words of Mary Kunz of The Buffalo News say a lot about the experience of Dee Daniels’ vocal artistry: “Dee Daniels’ voice brings to mind all the most delirious adjectives: Honeyed. Sweet. Low, rich, smooth, and slow as molasses.” David A. Frye’s words about the singer are precious ones: “The Great American Songbook is in her DNA.”
I think whenever anyone is described as having something simply in their DNA, you know that their essence is complete and that their presence, and how they express and share, is an inseparable, whole thing. Her instrument is her voice, textured and nuanced. You will fall deeply.
-- John Devenish, Jazz FM 91
Selected Performance History
In Concert With - Musicians:
Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Green, Houston Person, John Clayton, Russell Malone, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, Bill Mays, Jeff Clayton, Benny Golson, Jeff Hamilton, Monty Alexander, Steve Wilson, Marvin Stamm, Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington, Norman Simmons, Ben Riley, Dennis Mackrel, Steve Davis, Martin Wind, Bucky Pizzarelli, Cyrus Chestnut, Helen Sung, Christian McBride, David Young, Alvin Queen, Aaron Diehl, Zack Brock, Alvester Garnett, Paul Beaudry, Dwayne "Cook" Broadnax, Don Thompson, Hassan Shakur, Talib Kibwe (TK Blue), Ray Drummond, Bill Charlap, and many, many more...
Special Performances With - Legends of the Past:
Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Dorothy Donegan, Lionel Hampton, Toots Thielemans, Sir Roland Hanna, Al Grey, Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, Elvin Jones, Clark Terry, Hank Jones, Ed Thigpen, Mulgrew Miller, Benny Powell, Grady Tate, Hugh Fraser, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy McGriff, Wild Bill Davis, Joe Newman, Kenny Drew Jr., Jimmy Woode, Herb Ellis, Al Cohn, Reggie Johnson, Elvin Jones, and many more...
In Concert With - Orchestras and Big Bands:
The Boston Pops, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Detroit, Charleston, Greensboro, Charlotte, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Buffalo, Hartford, Rockford, Naples Symphony, Kentucky, Milwaukee, Omaha, Harrisburg, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Pensacola, Tucson, Oregon, Dallas, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, the Philly Pops, Santa Rosa, and many more in the USA; The Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, The Berlin Film Orchestra, and The Munich Radio Orchestra in Germany; The Metropole Orchestra, and The North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in The Netherlands; The Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Hamilton Philharmonic, Victoria, Calgary, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestras in Canada, and many more...
The Count Basie Orchestra, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Spokane Jazz Orchestra, Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra, Calgary Jazz Orchestra, Landes Jugend Hessen Jazz Orchestra, WDR Radio Big Band, the Rhine Phillis Jazz Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Jazz Orchestra, and many more…
Discography
LET IT SHINE! LET IT SHINE! | A NEW CD BY DEE DANIELS AND DENZAL SINCLAIRE | BUY NOW
PAYIN' MY DUES | JAY LAWRENCE AND THE PLATINUM JAZZ ORCHESTRA - Features Dee Daniels & Clarice Assad
SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL | Watch Video Now
Video of the first single released from the LET IT SHINE! LET IT SHINE!
LET FREEDOM RING (THE BALLAD OF JOHN LEWIS) | AN AWARD-WINNING SINGLE FROM "THE PROMISE" CD
This song was composed by Dee Daniels and features words from the last essay written by the late US Representative and Civil Rights Leader, John Lewis (Cellar Music Group, 2021) View video HERE
THE PROMISE | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels featuring musicians from both the US and Canada (Cellar Music Group, 2021)
INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, featuring Dee on vocals & piano, and the duo and trio pairings with Cyrus Chestnut, piano; Wycliffe Gordon, trombone; Houston Person, tenor sax; Ken Peplowski, Clarinet; Martin Wind, bass; Ted Brancato, keyboard; and Bob Kindred, tenor sax (Origin Records, 2014)
STATE OF THE ART | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, featuring Eric Alexander, tenor sax; Cyrus Chestnut, piano; Paul Beaudry, bass; and Alvester Garnett, drums (Criss Cross Jazz Records, 2013)
INTIMATE ELLINGTON: BALLADS AND BLUES
CD by Wycliffe Gordon, featuring Wycliffe Gordon, trombone, trumpet, soprano trombone, vocals; Dee Daniels, vocals; Adrian Cunningham, tenor & soprano sax, clarinet; Zack Brock, violin; Aaron Diehl, piano; Yasushi Nakamura, bass; Alvin Atkinson, drums (Criss Cross Jazz Records, 2012)
JAZZ DIVA SERIES - DEE DANIELS
A 30 song compilation CD created with selections from Let's Talk Business, Love Story, Feels SO Good, and Jazzinit (EQ Music Pte Ltd, Singapore 2011)
JAZZINIT | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, featuring Russ Botten, bass; Greg Williamson, drums; and Tony Foster, piano (Origin Records, 2007)
DEE DANIELS LIVE AT BIBLO | BUY NOW
DVD by Dee Daniels, featuring Jack van Poll, piano; Hein Van de Geyn, Bass; Hans van Oosterhout, drums (Challenge Jazz, 2006)
SACRED MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON
CD with Dee Daniels, the Seattle Jazz Repertory Orchestra, the Oregon Repertory Singers, and vocalists James Caddell and Nichol Eskridge (Origin Records 2006)
CROSSOVER XMAS
CD with Dee Daniels, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Le Courage Vocal Ensemble, Jiggs Whigham, Expression 88, the Frankfurt German-American Community Choir, and the Landesjugend Jazzorchester Hessen (Click Records, 2005)
CROSSOVER XMAS - THE SOUND GOES BIG
CD with Dee Daniels, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Le Courage Vocal Ensemble, Expression 88, the Frankfurt German-American Community Choir, and the Landesjugend Jazzorchester Hessen (Click Records, 2007)
FIRST NAME BASIS and SWINGIN’ AFFAIR
CDs by Gabriel Mark Hasselbach with guest artist, Dee Daniels (Wind Tunnel Music, 2006)
FEELS SO GOOD! | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, featuring: Houston Person, tenor sax; Benny Powell, trombone; John Clayton Jr., bass; Norman Simmons, piano; and Kenny Washington, drums. (Three X D Music, 2002)
LOVE STORY | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, featuring Houston Person, tenor sax and the Miles Black Trio; Miles Black, piano; Blaine Wikjord, drums; Darren Radtke, bass with appearances by Miles Hill, bass and Finn Manniche, cello. (Three X D Music, 2000). The 2001 PMIA (Pacific Music Industry Association) nominee for “Best Jazz Release”, and “Female Artist of the Year.”
HOLIDAY POPS WITH THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY
CD by the VSO with guest artist, Dee Daniels (VSO Records, 2000)
WISH ME LOVE | BUY NOW
CD recorded live in the studio by Dee Daniels with the Metropole Orchestra of Holland. (Mons Records, 1996) 1997 PMIA (Pacific Music Industry Association) nominee for “Female Vocalist of the Year.”
DRIP SOME GREASE
CD by Three Of A Kind, with guest artists Dee Daniels and Benny Golson (Minor Music Records, Germany, 1995)
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE SWINGIN’ KIND
CD by the Johan Clement Trio with guest artist Dee Daniels. (Timeless Records, Holland, 1991)
LET’S TALK BUSINESS | BUY NOW
CD by Dee Daniels, with Larry Fuller, piano; John Clayton, bass; Jeff Hamilton, drums; Jeff Clayton, sax. (Capri Records, 1990). 1991 NAMA (Northwest Area Music Awards) nominee for “Best Blues CD.”
THE MUSIC MADE ME SING IT
Album by Dee Daniels and the Monty Alexander Trio; Monty Alexander, piano; John Clayton, bass; Jeff Hamilton, drums. (Cobra Records, Belgium, 1987)
ALL OF ME
CD by Dee Daniels and the Jack van Poll Tree-Oh, (September Records, Belgium, 1984. Re-released in 1991)
And...several other guest appearances and compilation CDs...