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Greetings from New York, Spark & Echo! I’m honored to be submitting my third update for my artist in residence with Spark & Echo Arts. Just a recap: I’m writing a full jazz suite based upon the concept of LIGHT in scripture called “Light in the Darkness.” It’s been an amazing and enlightening process so far and these next few months will be no less exciting!

Find the complete progression of the work linked below.

John 1:1-5

John 1:14

John 3:19-21

John 12:34-36

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11

Artist in Residence 2015 | Benje Daneman 3

Benje Daneman

Credits:

Curated by:

Spark+Echo Arts

2015

Live Music, Jazz Suite

Primary Scripture

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August 31, 2015

1. SearchParty, the band I’ve formed to coincide with the writing of this project, debuted the first time at Saint Peter’s Church in midtown Manhattan on August 9th. If you check out my video, you’ll see some clips from that performance. We played three of the pieces from my forthcoming suite “Light in the Darkness.” It was a great first performance and am excited for more to come!

2. I’ve been lucky to perform and rehearse sections of the music I’m writing many times now as I’m constructing the full suite of music. This is definitely a luxury in helping me figure out what works and what doesn’t. It has been to the point where even one whole composition I’ve realized, while it’s a good composition, it doesn’t quite “fit” into the whole piece. Additionally, I’ve realized that parts of the music I thought was just a section of one piece, should actually be a whole composition itself. This only can happen through the ability of performing it multiple times in multiple settings - I’m very lucky to have this time to work out “the kinks.”

3. In multiple parts of the suite, I’ve found that I’ve used a similar chord progression in different ways without really even realizing it. I’ve begun to label this progression as the “Light” progression and am starting to utilize it in different ways to sprinkle throughout the composition. It’s awesome that this came as a sort of “accident”… or better yet, naturally!!

4. On November 15th at Marble Collegiate Church, 5pm, we’ll be debuting the full composition “Light in the Darkness” at the Jazz Vesper Series at Marble Collegiate Church (274 Fifth Ave New York, NY ). I hope you can join us as we premiere this exciting work that I’ve been honored to write.

Thanks to you all for your love and support through this process!! I can’t wait to share it with you all on November 15th.

Spark Notes

The Artist's Reflection

About Benje Daneman

A sought after musician for his personal approach, creative musicality and strong versatility, Daneman got his start professionally in 2007 on a national tour with with Doc Severinsen’s Big Band. Since then he has performed with the world renowned Jose Limon Dance Ensemble, recorded for the Grammy nominated album “Elevation” (HMI Big Band) and has appeared as both a leader and sideman at prestigious venues across the country including The Kennedy Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, FONT (Festival of New Trumpet) Music Festival and The Iridium. As a composer/arranger, he has received commissions from the United States Air Force Band (in Europe), Dr. Steve Zegree, Spark and Echo Arts and Lutheran Music Missions.

His 2015 Artist in Residence for Spark and Echo Arts, is the catalyst for one of his newest projects called Search Party which approaches faith topics through original music, with a band including some of the top musicians on the jazz scene today, including Ike Sturm, Jon Cowherd, Jaimeo Brown and Ashley Daneman. Another new project of Daneman’s, Life Stories, calls upon his deep interest and history in musical storytelling by musically creating a personal and unique experience for the audience by aurally recreating true stories of people places and events. Daneman’s 2013 EP release Estelle’s Farewell Gift features all original compositions featuring Jeremy Siskind, Ashley Daneman and Andrew Rathbun and has been described as “Simple songs that open doors to complex reactions” (David Sumner, Bird Is The Worm).

A Teaching Artist for the New York Pops, Daneman is a passionate educator and has led clinics and workshops throughout the country at such institutions as McNally Smith College, Western Michigan University, Concordia University and for the Michigan State Band and Orchestra Association. He is also the co-director of the Jazz & Creative Institute (http://www.jcinstitute.org), which has a mission to inspire artistic development and cultivate creative entrepreneurship for all levels of creative musicians. Benje has attended and holds degrees from Western Michigan University, The Henry Mancini Institute (Los Angeles, CA), and Manhattan School of Music (New York, NY).

Benje lives in New York City with his wife, jazz singer-songwriter, Ashley Daneman and daughters, Rivi and Elise.