MUSIC .

Crossover Appeal

The Cross-Pollination series brings trumpeter Ted Daniel back to Philly after 20 years.


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Published: Mar 27, 2007

Jazz

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There's no doubt that it can be difficult for a non-mainstream jazz artist to find places to play in Philly. Just ask trumpeter Ted Daniel, who hasn't stepped foot on a local stage in nearly 20 years.

Recently, some locals have taken matters into their own hands. Trumpeter Bart Miltenberger and saxophonist Daniel Peterson devised the semi-regular Cross-Pollination series last fall in order for their bands to share bills with some lesser-known but deserving artists they meet during their travels. This second show features Miltenberger's Chance Trio, with guitarist Matt Davis and bassist Michael Taylor; The Puzzlebox Experiment, a quintet led by bassist Keith DeStefano, of which Peterson is a member; and Ted Daniel, in a trio with vibist Khan Jamal and bassist Dylan Taylor.

Daniel has made important connections to Philly musicians in the past; while studying at Berklee, the Ossining, N.Y., native befriended local institution Byard Lancaster and future resident Dave Burrell, along with Sunny Murray, who also grew up here. He followed that crowd to New York in the mid-'60s when, Daniel says, "As luck would have it, out of the whole crew I was the only one who was drafted."

He spent two years in the Army, one of those in Vietnam. He places some blame on that stint for interrupting his career. "By the time I got back, Dave and Sunny and Byard had already recorded, so I had to catch up. I really didn't have my chops."

Over the years, though he played and recorded with a host of major names, including Dewey Redman, Andrew Cyrille, Henry Threadgill, Archie Shepp and childhood friend Sonny Sharrock, Daniel never had much opportunity to record under his own name.

In 1989, family issues necessitated a return to Ossining, where Daniel set music aside to become a clinical social worker and therapist. "The process of how one interacts in a therapy session," he explains, "the skills, the listening, is similar to how you interact with your bandmates. The intuitiveness and the nuances that you have to listen for in people's voices, what they say, what they don't say, it's the same thing when you're playing."

Daniel is reversing that career trajectory now, refocusing on music again by playing more shows like this one and releasing new and archival CDs, including a set of large-ensemble recordings featuring many soon-to-be-famous names from the loft scene era: David Murray, Oliver Lake, Arthur Blythe, and others.

"I always felt my music was worth hearing," Daniel says, "so I put it out myself. Simple as that."

(s_brady@citypaper.net)

Ted Daniel plays Thu., March 29, 9 p.m., $10, with The Chance Trio and The Puzzlebox Experiment, Tritone, 1508 South St., 215-545-0475, www.thechancetrio.com.