Acclaimed bassist, vocalist, and composer Jeff Denson's ambitious
2019 includes two stellar new albums, extensive touring, a new role at California
Jazz Conservatory plus introducing Bay Area artists to the world through his
Ridgeway Records label
Releases include Denson's first-ever live album, simply
titled Jeff Denson Live, on May 17, 2019, and Between Two Worlds, a
collaboration with French guitarist Romain Pilon and acclaimed U.S. drummer
Brian Blade, on October 25, 2019
Internationally acclaimed bassist, vocalist and composer
Jeff Denson-a musician of high (and steadily increasing) renown in the jazz
world-has embarked upon what will be among the most bountiful and consequential
years of his career. 2019 will see the release of two new and very different
recording projects from the prolific musician, along with other releases on his
Ridgeway Records label. In addition, Denson will maintain his busy schedule of
tours and live performances as well as ongoing work as full professor at the
California Jazz Conservatory (CJC)-to which, in the fall, he will also add the
role of Dean of Instruction.
The first new album Jeff Denson Live, his seventh recording
as a leader and first live album, is slated for a May 17 digital-only release
via Ridgeway Records. Live was recorded at the CJC with a superlative band,
including saxophonist Lyle Link, pianist Dahveed Behroozi and drummer Dillon
Vado; it continues his development toward giving his formidable vocal prowess
(as documented on 2018's Outside My Window) equal prominence with his
remarkable bass playing.
"After Outside My Window came out, I took my quartet
all over the country, and I was loving the pursuit of singing along with
playing," Denson says. "The chemistry in the band kept growing in a
really great way, and that's when I decided, 'Okay, I want to do a live album.'
I love working in the studio, but live, we extend things and take a lot of
risks-and I don't worry about track lengths. We let it go wherever it's gonna
go."
Live features five of Denson's original compositions, along
with scintillating covers of songs by Jeff Buckley, Abbey Lincoln, Peter
Gabriel and the Beatles.
Denson's second release in 2019 will be a studio
collaboration with superb French guitarist Romain Pilon, a friend of Denson's
from their days together at Berklee College of Music, now based in Paris; and
iconic, jazz drummer Brian Blade, one of Denson's longtime heroes. Between Two
Worlds is due for release on October 25, 2019, also on the Ridgeway label. The
group plans a US tour the last week of August, with more dates in February
2020.
An admirer of Blade's work for two decades, Denson finally
got to meet and play with the drummer in 2017, when they both joined New York
guitarist Joel Harrison on a tour with his band Spirit House.
"We deeply connected right away: from the first notes
in the sound check," says Denson. "It felt like kindred spirits,
rhythmically; a whole other language was taking place behind the soloists, and
it was totally enthralling." They kept in touch. Denson, searching for
another opportunity to collaborate with Blade, thought of Pilon as an ideal
third partner-"He's a virtuoso player but very sensitive and very musical,
the same words I would use to describe Brian," he says-and extended an
invitation to both.
Between Two Worlds is a collection of all original material,
with Denson and Pilon each contributing half the compositions.
Denson's own projects are not the only items on Ridgeway
Records' release schedule. The bassist's label will be issuing a handful of
other recordings this year. Among these is the debut recording by
multi-instrumentalist Dillon Vado (who plays the drums on Jeff Denson Live),
which will be released in the summer, and the third album by the expansive
electro-acoustic ensemble Negative Press Project co-led by bassist Andrew Lion
and pianist/keyboardist Ruthie Dineen, with other projects to follow.
In addition, Denson maintains an ever-rigorous performing
schedule, often with some 60 to 70 concerts per year. Among the highlights are upcoming
performances with his own bands including the Jeff Denson Live quartet and the
San Francisco String Trio (with guitarist Mimi Fox and violinist Mads Tolling)
whose tribute to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the 2017
album May I Introduce to You, earned critical praise. Denson will also pay
tribute to Bill Evans' landmark album Sunday at the Village Vanguard with
pianist Joe Gilman at SFJAZZ; he's also got gigs as part of New York trombonist
John Fedchock's quartet; another quartet with pianist Susan Muscarella and
vocalist Kenny Washington; with a trio led by pianist Edward Simon; as well as
the Anton Schwartz Quartet.
Denson's work as an educator at the California Jazz
Conservatory will also expand in the fall 2019 semester when he officially
becomes Dean of Instruction. But that role won't sideline his commitment to
teaching and community outreach. He'll
still teach students at CJC and will be part of a number of summer educational
initiatives including a week-long Jazz Piano Intensive headed by Susan
Muscarella, a two-day Vibraphone and Bass Boot Camp, co-led by Denson and
Philadelphia-based vibraphonist Tony Miceli, and a Guitar-Intensive Workshop
headed by Mimi Fox, as well as serving on the faculty of the Golden Gate Bass
Camp.
It's all part of Denson's quest to push his creative ability
to its limits. "I've got so many ideas I want to try, and I don't want to
put myself in any kind of box," he says. "Everything I do has a
thread that runs through it-and that thread is me. It's who I am."
Born December 20, 1976 in Arlington, Virginia, Jeff Denson
grew up in the Washington, DC area. He began playing alto saxophone in the
third grade, switching in high school to bass and vocals. He studied at
Virginia Commonwealth University and Northern Virginia Community College, all
the while freelancing heavily on the DC jazz scene, before transferring to
Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music to complete his degree. At Berklee,
Denson co-founded the trio Minsarah, touring and recording with the band for
fifteen years and becoming the accompanist for the legendary saxophonist Lee
Konitz for over twelve years. In the meantime, Denson completed a master's
degree at Florida State University and a DMA at the University of California at
San Diego, and recorded his first solo project in 2012's Secret World. Denson
moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011 to become a professor at the
California Jazz Conservatory. Since then, he has become a major player on the
international scene and earned wide critical acclaim for his musicianship.
DownBeat Magazine has cited Denson's "considerable gifts as an improviser,
interpreter and sonic trailblazer..." earning him a spot on the DownBeat
International Critics Poll. Germany's
Jazz Podium Magazine noted that "Denson is breaking new groundŠ(he is) one
of the leading bassists of contemporary jazz." Denson has released twelve
albums as a leader or co-leader and performs in some 60 concerts annually. He also spearheads Ridgeway Arts, a nonprofit
designed to enhance and fortify the Bay Area scene with educational
initiatives, concert presentations and recordings released on Denson's Ridgeway
Records label.
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