John Book Publishes Review Of "Eric Daniel...Old Sax Nu Soul" in "Music For America"

When I listened to this, it was hard for me to believe that this is Eric Daniel's debut album. He has recorded and toured with some of the best in pop and jazz, but has never taken the spotlight for himself until now.

Rome, Italy (PRWEB) September 29, 2006 -- "Old Sax Nu Soul (Quality Music) is a title that could be tongue in cheek, suggesting that it's a jazz musician with years of experience creating new music for a new generation. If so, then it's a title that works."

When I listened to this, it was hard for me to believe that this is Eric Daniel's debut album. He has recorded and toured with some of the best in pop and jazz, but has never taken the spotlight for himself until now. It's a shame too, because anyone who loves the smooth jazz and quiet storm of Grover Washington Jr. or some of Michael Brecker's more mellower works will appreciate what Daniel is trying to do. His expertise is not only with the saxophone, but with the flute. Those of you who know me know that I'm a huge fan of the jazz flute, being raised with a dad (r.i.p.) who loved the music of Herbie Mann. His work here is very soothing, and as is the case with "I Wanna See You Dance", very atmospheric.

His playing throughout is very colorful, but never in-your-face. He is very much in control of the moods and textures within his music, never showing off too much but being very confident of his capabilities. While he could be comfortable with playing one or two jazzy styles, there are also a few funk, soul, and some hip-hop flavorered tracks on here, all of them done tastefully. "Art Of Sax (Never Gonna Stop)" has him playing in a soundscape that is one part Herbie Hancock, one part Pete Rock. "Gotham City" adds some spoken work and rock guitar into the mix, almost coming off like a nice hip-hop song in NYC circa 1992.

Old Sax Nu Soul works as smooth jazz, but half of the songs have the kind of punch that might freak out those who are totally crocker. There are one or two songs that slow down the pace of the album, but as a whole it still holds up quite well. It doesn't matter if it's "old sax" or "nu sax", if you can play, just play. That is exactly what Daniel does, and I hope this will be the start of many more albums to come (albeit more frequently).

For more info:
http://www.saxman.it
http://www.myspace.com/ericdanielandfriends
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ericdanielfriends

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