Jazz Articles about Dan Willis

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by Jim Santella
March 1, 2007

Taking its title from a pet nickname that was applied to composer Erik Satie by children in his neighborhood, Velvet Gentlemen features multi-instrumentalist Dan Willis with a modern mainstream sextet, freely interpreting eleven original pieces. The band covers a lot of territory. The leader plays eleven woodwind instruments on the session, including tenor and soprano saxophones, as well as oboe, bass clarinet and English horn. He's joined by guitarist Pete McCann, trumpeter Chuck MacKinnon, bassist Kermit Driscoll, pianist Ron Oswanski ...

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by Budd Kopman
February 16, 2007

Just like you need know nothing about cryptography to enjoy and be blown away by Rudresh Mahanthappa's Codebook, you need no knowledge of Erik Satie (his music, or his idiosyncratic dressing habits) or Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to appreciate and get lost in Velvet Gentlemen. (Both of the above ideas inspired Dan Willis in various ways during the creation of the music for this record.) To be honest, just listening to the record without attempting to look ...

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 5, 2007

Facciamo fatica a comprendere cosa c'entrino Eric Satie e i paradossi della fisica quantistica di Max Planck, ampiamente citati nelle note di copertina, con l’ultima fatica discografica di Dan Willis. Ma poco importa, perché Velvet Gentlemen, nomignolo affibbiato a Satie per le giacche abitualmente indossate, è un buon disco ed un ottimo esempio di jazz moderno, che trae linfa vitale dalla tradizione ma è aperto a molteplici sollecitazioni e a fonti di ispirazione le più diverse. Così “Gentle Soul“ è ...

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by Michael P. Gladstone
January 17, 2007

File under: Eric Satie Jazz or Quantum Physics Jazz. I don't know f you have to intellectualize the music, only one of the above subjects is necessary for me.

On his third album, multi-reed player Dan Willis reports in the liner notes of Velvet Gentlemen that his writing for this album was influenced by the French classical composer Eric Satie as well as the theories of quantum physics, including what he refers to as the “precision-randomness paradox." The ...

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
January 15, 2007

It's hard not to like a band that calls itself “Velvet Gentlemen, even before learning that the moniker derives from a nickname given to the velvet-clad composer Erik Satie by children in his Parisian neighborhood. It's similarly easy to appreciate the sound of the compositions and arrangements on this record even before knowing that they are inspired by Satie's idiosyncratic music. Willis sees Satie not as a decorative impressionist composer, but as a proto-serialist, and accordingly draws upon some of ...

Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen

by John Kelman
January 12, 2007

Even those who get the titular reference of woodwind multi-instrumentalist Dan Willis' Velvet Gentlemen will be challenged to find a clear link. Those with only a passing acquaintance with classical composer Erik Satie (1866-1925)--nicknamed “The Velvet Gentleman because of his predilection for velvet jackets--will find little in Willis' sometimes complex, often electric and improvisation-oriented music to link him with the understated simplicity of works like “Trois Gymnopédies (1888) or “Trois Gnossiennes (1890).

Still, for those who are more familiar with ...

Dan Willis: Dan Willis Quartet

by Glenn Astarita
June 1, 1999

31 year old Saxophonist Dan Willis has performed and recorded with some of jazz's finest, which includes Joey Baron, Michael Brecker, Peter Erskine, Lee Konitz, Rob McConnell and many others. Here, Dan steps out on his first solo recording aptly titled the “Dan Willis Quartet."

Willis' opener, “Hankerin'" commences with a sturdy yet vivacious New Orleans style shuffle beat supplied by the fine rhythm section of: bassist, Drew Gress and the explosive drummer, John Hollenbeck. On this piece, ...