At first glance bassist Jeff Denson appears to reinvent
himself on every album, and his 12th release as leader or co-leader, Outside My
Window, might seem like his biggest departure yet. Possessing a huge,
galvanizing sound and a lyrically-charged compositional vision, the supremely
versatile Denson has earned recognition over the past 15 years as one of his
generation's definitive bassists. Slated for release on his label Ridgeway
Records on May 4, 2018, Outside My Window recalibrates his already expansive
array of creative outlets by giving equal weight to his vocals. Working with a
stellar international quartet, Denson delivers an emotionally taut program
weaving together striking interpretations of iconic songs and deeply felt
originals.
His mid-career emergence as a supple and engaging singer
isn't coming from left field. On 2012's critically hailed Secret World, his
first release under his own name, Denson included vocals on two original pieces
and has continued in that fashion on most of his solo releases. On last year's
Sgt. Pepper tribute May I Introduce to You with the collective San Francisco
String Trio, his vocal interpretation of "Fixing a Hole" was one of
the album's highlights. Denson's music covers a lot of stylistic territory,
"but my voice is a thread running through each one, whether I'm singing or
not," he says. "I was a singer before I was a bass player. Going into
the jazz world I put my voice away for a long time. But this is a logical step
for me, in that I'm using my voice more and more every year. This is the first
time I'm singing throughout an entire album, and these songs are a direct
continuation of the music I've been writing and arranging."
Denson's arrangements of four songs by other artists don't
reimagine the pieces as much as filter them through his subtle sonic palette,
starting with a gorgeous, lapidary version of "Grace," a piece
inspired by the Negative Press Project album he produced last year for Ridgeway
Records, Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds. He delivers a sparse,
intensely poignant rendition of Abbey Lincoln's "Bird Alone," a
re-harmonized 6/8 version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and a
riveting arrangement of "Fell On Black Days" by Chris Cornell, a piece
that serves as a tribute to Soundgarden's vocalist, who's music served a high
school soundtrack for Denson.
"In my mind, he's arguably the best voice of that
rock/grunge generation," Denson says. "I wanted to pay tribute to him
and his artistry. And Abbey is one of my favorite jazz vocalists. I've always
loved the way she sings, how she pulls on the time like Billie Holiday. She
sings with such a full, intense, large sound, and this song of hers always
moved me. I wanted to see what I could do with it."
Denson's four original pieces stand up impressively next to
his interpretations, from the Beatlesque optimism of "For A Brand New
Day" to the clangy prepared-piano accompaniment of the anguished
"Have We Really Gone This Far?" On a melancholic piece that feels like
it beamed in from a universe neighboring Miles Davis's In a Silent Way, Denson
contributes an atmospheric wordless vocal on "Through the Mist," a
tune he's radically rearranged since the collective trio Minsarah introduced it
in 2006. The closing title track is a wistful invitation into Denson's verdant
musical world.
The album is built on some of his deepest musical
relationships. Denson and Dayna Stephens met at Berklee and have played
together in various contexts ever since. Israeli-born drummer Ronen Itzik is
also a Berklee alum, and he and Denson bonded as part of the rhythm section for
Joe Lovano's 21st Century Ensemble. They went on to get graduate degrees at
Florida State University, where they played together daily and recorded three
albums in two years with pianist Bill Peterson and one with vocalist Inga
Swearingen. Kari Ikonen, one of Finland's most highly regarded jazz musicians,
is a much more recent addition to Denson's musical world, but he's quickly
become indispensable. In need of a pianist for a tour with legendary alto
saxophonist Lee Konitz, he hired Ikonen and "it was joyously apparent to
me that along with Ronen, this was my trio. It felt easy and inspiring and the
next few tours I did with Lee Konitz were with them."
Konitz played a crucial role in encouraging the reemergence
of Denson's vocals after hearing his singing on Secret World. Performing
together at the Bimhaus in Amsterdam, the altoist made an impromptu
announcement in the middle of a standard that "Jeff is going to
sing," he recalls. "There wasn't even a microphone set up, but I
started singing the melody. I booked a West Coast tour with him after that and
we'd spontaneously sing together every night. It felt great, playing the
standard jazz repertoire and being able to sing on stage with him. But at the
same time, I knew that I wanted to do my own music and sing the way I sing,
without having to filter anything."
Born on Dec. 20, 1976 in Arlington, Virginia, Denson grew up
in the orbit of Washington, DC. After playing alto sax from third grade through
junior high, he gave up the horn but was drawn back to music when friends in
high school recruited him as a singer for rock bands. When one of those groups
also needed a bass player, he took over the spot and before long found himself
drawn to the jazz and funk electric bass pantheon, "Players like Jaco,
Bootsy Collins, and Stanley Clarke served as the gateway," Denson recalls.
"When I heard the virtuosic electric playing in fusion, that opened the
door to jazz." Listening to Miles Davis led him to the double bass, but it
was Mingus who inspired him to dedicate himself to it. "I heard 'Haitian
Fight Song' where he plays that amazing intro, and that was the defining
moment," Denson says. "I knew I'd never be able to make sounds like
that on an electric bass."
While studying at Northern Virginia Community College Denson
supported himself freelancing around DC, playing jazz, orchestral music, rock
covers, and leading his own funk combo as a bassist and vocalist. Earning a
scholarship to Berklee College of Music, he quickly fell in with German pianist
Florian Weber and Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz, fellow students with whom he
formed Minsarah. The collective trio released its debut album in 2003 on
Hubermusic, and followed up in 2006 with a critically hailed eponymous album on
Enja Records. Despite touring internationally with the group Denson managed to
maintain a rigorous academic career.
Recruited by Florida State University, he graduated Magna
Cum Laude an MM in Jazz Studies on a full scholarship and discovered an
affinity for teaching. A conversation with bass giant Mark Dresser, who had
just been hired as a professor at UC San Diego, brought Denson to UCSD on
another full scholarship, leading to a doctorate in contemporary music
performance with an emphasis in composition. Throughout his San Diego sojourn,
Denson continued to tour widely with Minsarah, and it was during a spate of
2006 concerts in Germany that Lee Konitz first heard the band, "the start
of a great adventure," Denson says.
With Minsarah serving as his band, the critically hailed Lee
Konitz New Quartet debuted on 2007's Deep Lee and followed up with 2009's Lee
Konitz New Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard, Jazzman Magazine's 2010 Album
of the Year Award, and 2014's Standards Live: At the Village Vanguard (all on
Enja). Denson made his debut as a bandleader with 2012's Secret World, and went
on to demonstrate his versatility with simultaneous duo releases, radically
reconceiving American hymns and spirituals with San Diego pianist Joshua White
on I'll Fly Away and exploring freely improvised dialogues with Swiss clarinet
virtuoso Claudio Puntin on Two.
Since relocating to the East Bay in 2011 to take on a full
professorship at the California Jazz Conservatory, Denson has forged ties with
some of the Bay Area's top players, including bassoonist Paul Hanson,
clarinetist Ben Goldberg, guitarist Mimi Fox and violinist Mads Tolling (his
partners in the San Francisco String Trio). A prolific composer and arranger,
he's written music for an array of jazz settings, as well as for string
ensembles, solo bass, and chamber opera.
He's brought his many pursuits under one umbrella with the
recent unveiling of Ridgeway Arts, a non-profit designed to enhance and fortify
the Bay Area scene, and to make a strong contribution to the national landscape
of jazz and the arts in general, through a four-pronged plan of expression,
education, presenting and documentation. He introduced the initiative with The
Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, and followed up with Arctic by drummer Alan
Hall's critically hailed electro-acoustic ensemble, Ratatet. The label has
become an essential conduit to an international cast of musicians, and the
portal to Denson's multifarious musical imagination.
"Artists are always dreaming up what we're doing,"
he says. "My goal has always been very clearly to create my own musical
world."
