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Ashley Daneman
Ashley Daneman is a singer who combines “a literary sensibility with a driving experimental jazz style where the heart of the song can find itself anywhere and always in a personal intimate space” (Marlbank). Her new release, People Are Fragile (Flood Music), traverses the emotional waters of pain, recovery, and rebirth following a series of losses.
The music feels very exposed and intimate, like a deep, late-night conversation between old friends who don’t spare each other’s feelings. It features Rob Clearfield and Rufus Ferguson on piano, Wurlitzer, and organ; Matt Gold on guitar and lap steel; Andrew Vogt on electric bass; Makaya McCraven and Quinlan Kirchner on drums; and Kevin Bujo Jones on percussion. It’s a mature, honest and fearless record that signals the next big step in the musical career of Ashley Daneman.
Daneman grew up in Toledo, Ohio studying classical voice and performing in musicals before turning to jazz and songwriting in her twenties. She honed her craft in Washington, DC, New York City, and by touring in the U.S. Daneman was also a resident artist at The Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter’s JazzAhead and The Banff Centre’s Jazz and Creative Workshop in Alberta, Canada. She earned her master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, and Theo Bleckman.
People Are Fragile follows her 2015 critically acclaimed album Beauty Indestructible. Selected by DownBeat Magazine as “Editor’s Pick,” her music draws comparisons to Becca Stevens, Laura Nyro, and even Stephen Sondheim. “Beautiful jazz art music from a gorgeous voice with superb accompaniment,” says Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange, and Richard Kamins (Step Tempest) called it, “a profound work of art that is so alive, so positive, and so blessedly musical.” Daneman addresses the fundamental healing power of love” (C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz).
Ashley lives with her husband, trumpeter Benje Daneman, and their kids in beautiful Savannah, GA.
Awards
KADI Grant, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo (2018) Emerging Artist Grant Award, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo (2010) Small Projects Grant Award, D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities (2002)
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Ashley Daneman: People Are Fragile
by Dan Bilawsky
While solidity and vulnerability are at opposite ends of the strength spectrum, they also exist as two sides of the same coin. All that is broken can be put back together, much of what's whole isn't without interstitial breaks, and the human experience is built around the fluid bonds between the two representative emotional extremes connected to these states. It's this very notion that serves as the foundation for vocalist Ashley Daneman's work. With Beauty Indestructible (Self ...
Continue ReadingAshley Daneman: Beauty Indestructible
by Angelo Leonardi
È un disco che colpisce, questo di Ashley Daneman, e merita tutta la nostra attenzione. Per certi aspetti ricorda quello di Becca Stevens di qualche anno fa: entrambe sono affascinanti e personali singer/songwriter che attualizzano la lezione di Joni Mitchell e Laura Nyro in percorsi eclettici, assegnando al jazz un ruolo significativo. Qualcosa che le altre cantautrici bianche americane hanno fatto raramente. Ogni debutto ha la sua storia, fatta di passione, anni di studio, prime ...
Continue ReadingAshley Daneman: Beauty Indestructible
by C. Michael Bailey
The most important thing that singers/educators Kate McGarry and Theo Bleckmann impart to their students is the direction to define his or her own vocal trajectory. The lesson was readily honored by Nicky Schrire on her Space and Time (Magenta Label Group, 2013). Vocalist Ashley Daneman also took that message to heart after her study with the pair and released the present and exceptional Beauty Indestructible. Forged from a harrowing “Long Night of the Soul" (apologies to ...
Continue ReadingAshley Daneman: Beauty Indestructible
by Bruce Lindsay
During 2013 singer and songwriter Ashley Daneman and her husband, trumpeter Benje Daneman, raised the funding for Beauty Indestructible via 200 Kickstarter contributors. To each and every one of those contributors, “Thank You." For Beauty Indestructible is a striking debut, full of strong, memorable, songs and performances.Every song is a Daneman original. She's a self-declared fan of '70s singer-songwriters--..."raised on Carole King and Joni Mitchell..." as she puts it. Some of the finest moments on Beauty Indestructible seem ...
Continue Reading“Editors’ Pick” DownBeat Magazine - January 2015 http://www.downbeat.com/defaultl.asp?sect=reviews#5 “her full-length debut makes it clear that she is carving out her own unique identity.” - Bobby Reed, DownBeat Magazine “Daneman’s vocal control and phrasing are impressive here, and she has crafted an arrangement that gracefully merges her wordless singing with the poignant cello work” “her aesthetic approach marries the sophistication of jazz harmonies with the hooks associated with folk-rock.” - Bobby Reed, DownBeat Magazine “Throughout the album, the choice of instrumentation…is combined with tasteful production to complement the overall song structure.” - Bobby Reed, DownBeat Magazine “Best of 2014” Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange - January 2015 http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/reviews.htm “beautiful jazz art music from a gorgeous voice with superb accompaniment” (I got to hear it Dec
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Location
Savannah
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Level II Certified in Somatic Voicework (tm) The LoVetri Method Master of Music, Manhattan School of Music: Jazz Vocal Performance
Clinic/Workshop Information
Strength & Freedom for the Contemporary Singer
Photos
Music
Here comes a body
From: Beauty IndestructibleBy Ashley Daneman
