Dee Daniels

Dee Daniels blends the vocal traditions of Sarah Vaughan with R&B and gospel elements to create her distinctive and engaging sound. As a youngster she performed regularly in church services and studied piano specifically to accompany the ensembles at her stepfather’s congregation. After receiving her art degree from the University of Montana in 1970, she instructed high-school art classes in Seattle while maintaining a parallel singing career that began as a casual pastime and later expanded to six nights a week fronting a rock-and-R&B ensemble. In 1972 she resigned from teaching to devote herself entirely to vocal performance.

Her growing fascination with improvisation eventually steered her toward jazz. Between 1982 and 1987, while based in Europe, she collaborated with Toots Thielemans, Monty Alexander, Johnny Griffin, and John Clayton. Although she returned to the United States in 1987, Daniels has continued to appear frequently in Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, eleven African nations, and across Europe, where she enjoys greater recognition than at home. Her stage credits include the musical comedy Wang Dang Doodle and the 2001 Calgary Stampede, and she has appeared with both small jazz combos and pops orchestras. Her recording affiliations encompass Capri, Mons (alongside the Metropole Orchestra), Three XD Music, and Origin, and she has also issued a DVD through Challenge.