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Christopher Daniel

Atlanta-based music journalist, cultural critic, archivist, historian, & ethnomusicologist

About Me

Christopher A. Daniel is an award-winning journalist, cultural critic, historian, ethnomusicologist, and public intellectual. Born in Spartanburg, SC, his work has been featured digitally on FRANK151/The ATLanta Backwoods, Urban Lux Magazine, TheBurtonWire.com, The Hip Hop Enquirer, TheRoot.com, HuffPost Live, soulhead.com, USA Today, Eater Atlanta, Shadow & Act, Music Enthusiast Magazine, & Albumism.com. He has served as a U.S. correspondent for the British-based magazines Knowledge (KMag) and Blues & Soul.

Daniel's anthropological, vivid storytelling is often framed within popular music and culture, civil rights, the arts and humanities, education, philanthropy, humanitarianism, and lifestyle topics. Some of his interviews include Quincy Jones, Wanda Sykes, Steve Harvey, Steven Tyler, Usher, Sheila E., Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Stanley Clarke, Al Jarreau, Ramsey Lewis, Sergio Mendes, Aaron Neville, Charlie Wilson, Najee, John Ridley, Terrence Howard, Lee Daniels, Ciara, Marlon Wayans, Rza, LeVar Burton, Robert Glasper, Questlove, Ludacris, Misty Copeland, Bun B., Slick Rick, DJ Premier, Talib Kweli, 9th Wonder, David Banner, Snoop Dogg, T.I., 2 Chainz, and MikeWiLL Made It among others.

He is praised by his peers for being a detail-oriented, trustworthy, and enthusiastic scribe. Daniel is a distinguished alumnus of Johnson C. Smith University (Bachelor of Arts, '05) in Charlotte, NC and the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication (Master of Arts '07) in Athens, GA. His work and passion for diversity and multiculturalism has been recognized by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), and NewsOne.com.

Daniel is currently based in Atlanta. He recently traveled to Salvador, Bahia as part of a Community Journalism Exchange Program sponsored by the U.S Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro to concentrate on covering how Afro-Brazilian music and arts education programming drives political and social change. He recently became a faculty member in the School of Communication at Georgia State University.

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My Jazz Story

My advice to new listeners is to always open your mind to the possibilities. Music encompasses so much of our lives and experiences, it's hard to not be able to connect with it in some shape or form. Try to find subtleties and nuances that are relevant to you to fully establish that connection. It's the one universal language that connects us all to one another.

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