A performance of original music by renowned double bassist/composer/vocalist, Jeff Denson with his quartet, Secret World. The group features extraordinary trumpeter, and former member of the Pat Metheny Group, Cuong Vu, as well as Dahveed Behroozi on piano and Jon Arkin on drums.
The music of Jeff Denson’s Secret World pushes through the boundaries of conventions in music. By inventively mixing the world of composed and improvised music, Jeff Denson creates a unique language of his own, where intoxicating melodies and rhythms transport the listener away to unknown lands where vivid hues of tone paints the aural canvas of the inner ear. The music is steeped in the jazz tradition, where the propulsive rhythms are the heartbeat of the music and the musicians are master improvisers of harmonic structures, song forms, and melodic invention. Where the music diverges from the jazz tradition and creates its unique fingerprint in the handling of the juxtaposition of the composed and improvised material, the roles and uses of the instruments within the compositions, its musical forms and the unmistakably memorable melodic language of Jeff Denson. The strength of the melodies transcend genre or idiomatic leanings and plants themselves in the ears of the listeners, leaving them singing them long after the music has stopped.
Jeff is an exceptional musician who is a creative force on the double bass and has an original approach and voice on the instrument.
-Lee Konitz
"Never satisfied to merely accept the role of a session player and with a forward thinking vision to expand his horizons as a leader, Jeff Denson is quickly moving up the improvisational food chain as one of the preeminent bassists in world."
Brent Black / www.criticaljazz.com May 2014
"...master of the jazz bass.."
Lee Hilldebrand - SF Chronicle June 1, 2014
"...Denson's masterly bow work. Denson's singing bass...tour de force..."
Andrew Gilbert - Califronia Report KQED Radio May 2014
"Double bassist Jeff Denson capitalizes on his considerable gifts as an improviser, interpreter and sonic trailblazer..."
Ken Micaleff - Downbeat Magazine July 2014
"Absolutely brilliant."
Robert Bush - NBC San Diego
“Accomplished bassist-composer Jeff Denson delivers 10 original gems on this precious quartet offering. …artfully crafted.. ..intelligence and passionate, unbridled improvisation.” “The leader’s (Jeff Denson’s) superb bowing.. showcasing Denson’s haunting vocals”
—Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes, USA September 16, 2012
“Jeff Denson takes modern jazz to a new level. His many flashes of compositional genius bring much that is fresh, new and unexpected. This makes his music instantly recognizable and shows how deeply Jeff Denson is immersed into the art of composition.”
—Stefen Pieper, Jazzthetik, Germany July/August 2012
“A secret masterpiece!”
—Reinhard Koechl, Jazzthing, Germany 6/2012
“The bass takes its place to give a nice roundness to original compositions with rich and subtle melodies, played eagerly and without heaviness. A success.”
—T. Giard , Culture Jazz, France
“The leader is a bass ace but he knows how to give everyone some. Give it a wash of some Euro not so free jazz and you’ve got a dandy little set that’s familiar but brings enough new stuff to take you new places. Check it out.”
—Chris Spector in Midwest Record, USA
“An interesting album, which boldly departs from the patterns of U.S. All of Denson’s compositions are cleverly multi-threaded with his own style and character . Denson is an efficient and versatile bassist, successfully combining task as a leader and an improvising soloist.” “In his first leader album, we see the author’s footprints - those experiences with jazz masters, all of a merger modern post bop (with subtle free inclusions) and jazz associated with Europe.”
—Bogdan Chmura, Jazz Forum, Poland 9/2012
“Finding such a complete album is extremely rare; one that is able to maintain a combination between sumpteous melodies and intricate compositions, infused by rhythm. Each musician, Jeff Denson, Ralph Alessi, Florian, Weber and Dan Weiss, unfolds a finely-honed sound supported by skillful instrumentation.
It is impossible to choose only one musician to discuss in this sublime acoustic quartet, yet I must point out that the presence of its leader, Jeff Denson, maintains an etherial cadence through out the entire album. Denson’s display of his vocal ability and scat singing on tracks #2 (Autumn Song) and #6 (Longing) makes this entire album distinctive.
His music convinced me that no matter what, Jeff’s music will continue to be markedly Jeff Denson, delicate and in the same moment extremely robust. ”
—Kayo Fushiya - Jazz Tokyo, Japan May 27, 2012
“The bassist Jeff Denson is known to most jazzfans as co-leader of the trio Minsarah, belonging to the greatest piano trios in the last twelve years … here Jeff Denson is the leader, and so his excellent bass-playing is in the foreground. This quartet plays at the highest level, inspired and with exciting interplay … all compositions are by Denson and you can hear him singing on two tracks, too. Topnotch quality… An hour full of pure listening pleasure!”
—Teddy Doerium, Jazz Podium, Germany 6/2012
“It’s time for bassist/composers/arrangers. .. The ability to go beyond the tradition without fail in its fundamental tenets, strong attraction and involvement with academic music.. “Elegant” “beautifully played, performed, arranged..”
—AVincenzo Roggero, All About jazz, Italy May 3, 2012
“Jeff Denson presents himself, well-educated and open to cultural diversity……” “Artistic instrumentation and rich musical imagination, a little romantic in nature, and impressionistic references..”
—Andrzej Kalinowski, Jazzarium, Poland
Cost: $35