Search - Eddie Daniels :: Nepenthe

Daniel T. (djtal)
Reviewed on 7/11/2007...

Great clarinetist. If you like artists such as David Sanborn, I'll bet you'll like Eddie Daniels. He fits in well with all the other great artists on the GRP label.

Jazz soundtrack for feeling good

James A. Vedda | Alexandria, VA USA | 07/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Eddie Daniels tells us in the liner notes that he wants this album to "help you transcend your sorrows." He offers us a good recipe to do that at a wide range of tempos. Daniels is on clarinet for the whole album, for which he wrote seven of the 11 tunes. He's accompanied by various combinations of acoustic/electric guitar, acoustic/electric bass, drums, and auxiliary percussion.

Recorded in December 1989, this album is another demonstration of how Daniels thoroughly modernized jazz clarinet. The material sounds fresh. The clarinet is smooth and evocative when he wants is to be and fast and powerful when he needs it to be. While some of these selections could fit comfortably in the playlist of a so-called "smooth jazz" radio station, they are much better than what we've come to expect in such an environment - they're real jazz played by a master of the idiom.

Several tracks are movingly beautiful: "The Only One," "Soul Eyes," "Quiet Space," "Reverie for a Rainy Day," the Latin-style "Sueños," John Coltrane's "Equinox," and "Waltz of Another Color." "Chaser," "The Chant," and "Nepenthe" crank up the tempo, and the medium-tempo "Sun Dance" makes a great opening track. Daniels' ease of movement and pure sound in the high register will amaze anyone who has ever tried to play the clarinet. Every track is a keeper, so grab this one before it disappears."