Eddie Daniels

Biography

Daniels was born in New York City to a Jewish family, and his mother emigrated from Romania. He was raised in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He became interested in jazz as a teenager when he was impressed by the musicians accompanying singers, such as Frank Sinatra, on recordings. Daniels' first instrument was the alto saxophone, at the age of 13 he was also playing clarinet, and by the age of 15 he had played at the Newport Jazz Festival youth competition.

Daniels has toured and recorded with a variety of bands, small groups and orchestras, and appeared on television many times. Since the 1980s, he has focused mainly on the clarinet. In 1989, he won a Grammy Award for his contribution to the Roger Kellaway arrangement of "Memos from Paradise". He has also played with Richard Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Don Patterson, and Bucky Pizzarelli. For six years, Daniels was a member of The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.

He worked with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, on the album Swingin' for the Fences, the first album by the band. He was featured in Goodwin's arrangement of Mozart's 40th symphony in G minor on XXL and on the Big Phat Band's album The Phat Pack.

In 2009, Swiss composer and saxophonist Daniel Schnyder composed a Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra called MATRIX 21 for Daniels and dedicated it to him. It was commissioned by the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (Switzerland) and world-premiered in Lausanne under its artistic director Christian Zacharias in January 2010. The American premiere took place at the Crested Butte Music Festival on July 18, 2010, under the direction of music director Jens Georg Bachmann.

As leader

As sideman

With The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra

With Bob James

With Freddie Hubbard

With Eric Gale

With Jimmy McGriff

With Billy Joel

With Dave Grusin

With Don Sebesky

With Arturo Sandoval

With others