Smith, Daniel
Summit, 2013, CD
Instrument: Saxophone
Issue: 20.1
Jazz Ruler Type: Ballads, Blues
Performance: 4
Sound: 4
Score: 
O’s Notes: By now perhaps you have heard of Daniel Smith classically trained bassoonist who successfully adapted his game to jazz and expanded into Blues and Latin genres several years ago. He has several recordings under his belt leading to Smokin’ Hot Bassoon Blues, a dozen jazzy blues tunes featuring Dan leading the melodies and improvising. This may be the most natural home for the bassoon with its dark blue tone! Smith works it hard blitzing through passages akin to Parker on sax but coaxing some feelings out of his instrument along the way. He has a fine band supporting the effort and they seem to get better with each track. Hats off to guest artist Frank Senior who breathes a large dose of soul into the vocal tracks. Ron Jackson (g), Greg Lewis (B3) and Efrat Shapira (violin, viola) also make strong appearances. Smith is at his best on “Moanin”. We also enjoyed “Hallelujah, I Love Her So”, “Señor Blues” and “What’d I Say” in yet another smokin’ set.
Publicist: Daniel Smith
