Devin Daniels | LesGo!

Hailing from the vibrant Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, CA, alto saxophonist Devin Daniels stands out as one of the most unique and versatile voices to emerge from LA’s rapidly evolving creative music landscape. After honing his craft at the Berklee College of Music and FocusYear Basel, Daniels was selected to study at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Studies at UCLA (class of 2023) where he was mentored by luminaries Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Daniels then spent the early part of 2024 as the Artist-In-Residence at the esteemed 18th Street Arts Organization, during which time he composed much of the music that ended up being recorded for this exciting new album, LesGo!

Recorded live at LA’s westside jazz club, Sam First for their in-house label Sam First Records, LesGo!, which captures the live, unadulterated energy from five exceptionally gifted LA-based musicians– trumpeter Julien Knowles, pianist Chris Fishman, bassist Jermaine Paul and drummer Benjamin Ring. With an impressive list of collective performance credits that include Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Billy Childs and Pat Metheny, it goes without saying that these incredibly talented musicians represent a very important branch of LA’s evolving music scene.

In the album’s liner notes, esteemed jazz critic Nate Chinen explains: “What you have here is the roar of takeoff. LesGo! — say it fast, with hard emphasis on the second syllable. Then hear how Devin Daniels articulates the idea, first in the quick foreshadowing of his alto saxophone intro, and then in a composition that surges and shudders, over a chord cycle repeatedly pointing skyward. It’s a shrewd first move on an album with a declarative unity of purpose: a manifesto of sorts, for Daniels and the emerging Los Angeles peer group that populates his wildly dynamic band.”

Kicking off the album is the title track “LesGo!,” which Daniels describes as a “simple singable line that is versatile in improvisation and composition alike. I thought of opening with this song because it captures my light composition style and heavy emphasis on improvisation.”

As the lead-off tune concludes, the band seamlessly morphs into John Coltrane’s “Spiral.” Daniels says, “I was listening to a Jordan Peterson Interview on YouTube about toxic masculinity or something and he said something about moving forward in life and spiraling upward. I had never heard of spiraling upward. I thought it was only a downwards thing. Then for some reason, I thought of Coltrane’s spiral, then started thinking of this 11/8 clave I heard from a Vijay Iyer joint, Actions Speak. I thought it fit perfectly with the melody and chords, so I didn’t make any major changes.”

In 2023, Hancock invited Daniels to join him on stage at the Hollywood Bowl alongside luminaries Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette for a celebration honoring the late, great Wayne Shorter. The experience served as the impetus for Hancock inviting Daniels to join his band for a month-long US tour alongside heavyweights Terence Blanchard, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke, James Genus and Trevor Lawrence.

“Devin is an amazing young talent creating new directions in music,” Hancock says.

Featuring top-level creative artists five nights/week, Sam First has served as a watering hole and jazz incubator for LA musicians and music lovers since its opening in 2017. Being positioned adjacent to LAX airport, just minutes from Daniels’ “home turf” of Inglewood makes it the perfect venue to celebrate a “hometown hero.”

Following suit with previous releases from Sam First Records, LesGo! is available as beautifully packaged, limited run foil-numbered 180-G vinyl LPs, and high-res digital downloads, all of which are available at samfirstrecords.com as well as a variety of record stores worldwide. Additionally, LesGo! will be available digitally exclusively on Qobuz beginning on August 9. Founded in 2007 and a pioneer in high-quality sound, Qobuz is a French music streaming and download platform for anyone who wants to fully experience and share their passion for music, making them the perfect match for Sam First Records’ hi-res releases.