A musical pioneer of the bassoon with his many award-winning recordings and live performances throughout the world. The world’s most recorded bassoon soloist with a repertoire ranging from baroque concerti to contemporary music, including jazz, ragtime and crossover. He is the only bassoonist performing and recording in both the classical and jazz fields. His unique career has been profiled in Gramophone, the New York Times, Fanfare, Classical Music, Musical Heritage Review, Music And Musicians, American Record Guide, Classic CD and leading British newspapers including The Times. His solo performances include classical recitals, jazz concerts with his quartet, concertos with orchestra and highly popular programmes divided between classical and jazz, with music that ranges from Vivaldi, Elgar, Mozart and Verdi to Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Described as a ‘phenomenon’, he has been called the ‘Gerry Mulligan of the Bassoon’ in the world of jazz and the ‘Galway’ and ‘Rampal of the Bassoon’ in the world of classical music, bringing his unique sound and style to concert series, festivals and jazz clubs.
His historic and unprecedented recording for ASV of the entire 37 Vivaldi bassoon concertos was chosen as ‘Best Concerto Recording Of The Year‘ by the Music Industry Association and awarded the Penguin Guide’s coveted * * * rosette rating as well as inclusion in Fanfare’s annual ‘Want List’. These concertos, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and I Solisti di Zagreb, firmly established Daniel Smith as a leading soloist on his instrument. His recordings with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Caravaggio Ensemble for the ASV White Line label produced innovative crossover music, with unique renditions of ragtime pieces, opera excerpts, and popular standards. In Britain, the BBC’s Radio 3 used one of his recordings as their signature tune for several months to begin their broadcast day. Recent recordings made with his acclaimed jazz quartet ‘Bassoon and  Beyond’ - ‘Bebop Bassoon’ and ‘The Swinging Bassoon’ - have brought the bassoon into the world of jazz. Other recordings of his are available on Vox, MHS, Crystal, KemDisc, Pearl, Spectrum, Cambria, Forum, and Regis. In 2005, legendary composer/arranger Robert Farnon dedicated his final composition to Daniel Smith. A three movement bassoon concerto entitled ‘Romancing the Phoenix’, the piece is written in a jazz style for solo bassoon, rhythm section and symphony orchestra. The title page of the score, published by Warner Chappell, includes Robert Farnon’s dedication to ‘The American virtuoso Daniel Smith’. Premieres are scheduled to take place world-wide 2007 and beyond.
His performances have included many firsts: the U.S. West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller’s ‘Concerto for Contrabassoon & Orchestra’; the world premiere of Steve Gray’s ‘Jazz Suite For Bassoon’ with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra; solo concerts at New York’s Lincoln Center and the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen and engagements at London’s ‘Pizza On the Park’ with his jazz quartet. Other appearances include those at Carnegie Recital Hall and, in London, St. John’s (Smith Square), the Wigmore Hall and the BBC Concert Hall. His many recordings are heard throughout the world on classical and jazz radio, National Public Radio in the USA, major airlines for in-flight listening and featured with leading book and record clubs. In 2003, Daniel Smith was designated as ‘Ambassador for the Bassoon’ by Youth Music in the UK.
 http://www.danielsmithbassoon.com

Daniel Smith on Zah Zah

• ZZCD 9824 The Swingin' Bassoon
• ZZCD 9820 Bebop Bassoon

Revised Thursday June 14 2007