David Daniels with the Talkin' Roots Crew
David Daniels with The Talkin' Roots Crew -4:20 Report
© 2006 David Daniels (634479422980)
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Take a touch of Rasta based, politically inspired spoken word, blend with it a dash of acoustic reggae, blues, and folk, throw in a countercultural performance style pioneered by Cheech and Chong, and Firesign Theater, and you've got DAVID DANIELS
tracks
- 1 North End
- 2 Joyous Sound Reek Ruk
- 3 Jah Forgive
- 4 The System
- 5 Greenwich Village-San Francisco
- 6 Ode To a Statesman Poet
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David Daniels,Playwright,Poet,Spoken Word artist was first noted for his pioneering work as co-founder of the Reggae Theatre Ensemble.A recipient of the Playwrights Center's Many Voices award,he has seen his work staged across the US and in Germany.His plays include "MALCOLM X MEET PETER TOSH,I EDGAR HOOVER,KOLORADA..A WESTERN TALE,as well as the Spaulding Grey inspired monologue "BLACK HIPPIE CHRONICLES"
He has shared the stage with the immortal Wailers Band,dub poet Linton Kwezi Johnson,and jamband favorites The Big Wu among others.
Here's what others have said about David Daniels' work:
"The most complex reggae is a seamless combination of both sunsplashed dancehall groove, and powerful messages of political dissent. Most reggae musicians are steeped in that duality. For them, reggae is a rhythm and a way of life, both religion and release, and, for David Daniels at least, a form of avant-garde theatre. Daniels borrows the best of reggae's earthy, political tradition and uses it as a vehicle for his shake 'em, wake 'em, bake 'em spoken word theatrics." First Avenue
"Characterizing Daniels' work is a resonant (and sometimes thunderous) articulation of thoughtful prose spiced with the bone-dry wit of scathing commentary. He dreams up inventive figures, drawn straight from American life, to not only hold up a mirror image of society's base nature, but to artfully put that mirror image right in the audience's face." Dwight Hobbes-Insight News Minneapolis
The Talkin'Roots Crew, in the tradition of Neil Young's Crazy Horse Band,has longtime been the musical backdrop for Daniels' spoken word creations. A largely acoustic ensemble,The Talkin Roots Crew (Isaac "Ike"Russell on bass,Van Nixon,acoustic guitar and vocals,Charlie Braden,saxophone,Dan Schauer,percussion,Dan Boldt,percussion,with a guest appearance by Nate Stevens on Harmonica
4:20 Report- Daniels' "Strongest work yet"- Bob Marley Archivist Roger Steffens
"4:20 Report" has the band in fine form and Daniels' even more ambitious in his anthemic tales like "Greenwich Village-San Francisco" and wailing cry in our time of greed and war, "Jah Forgive." Lydia Howell KFAI Radio
Firebrand wordsmith comments on social, political America
by Dwight Hobbes
Insight 1/12/07
Firebrand wordsmith comments on social, political America
Rasta bard David Daniels prevails. A vastly accomplished spoken-wordsmith, performance artist, actor and playwright, this dyed-in-the-wool maverick is living proof that you can’t keep a determined trailblazer down.
Garnering scant mainstream media attention over the past decade, Daniels nonetheless owns a strong following. It reaches from Minneapolis, where he’s based, to his seminal stomping grounds in Denver, across the Midwest to NYC, north to Alaska and far abroad as Amsterdam and Germany. Hard to imagine the impact once this firebrand gets such media exposure as he deserves. The newest offering, his sophomore CD, 4:20 Report by David Daniels & The Talkin’ Roots Crew, stands to be a breakthrough vehicle. Released in 2006 on Interlock Records, it’s a brisk seller that has revitalized sales of Daniels’ solo debut disc, Talkin’ Roots - which, sans advertising, tore through a first printing and is well on its way to selling out the second batch.
Suffice it to say, David Daniels sustains a sterling career and it’d be a helluva thing to see him make it to the next notch. For instance, should judges at the 2007 Minnesota Music Awards break ranks with mainstream sensibility to acknowledge both 4:20 Report and Daniels’ grassroots preeminence in the Spoken Word category, this front-line talent could ascend to deservedly widespread recognition.
4:20 Report, a concept album, takes a news commentary format, bringing verse to bear on social and political America. It starts out with “North End” where we have Daniels - who performed the work’s premiere at Acadia Café in suit, tie and dreadlocks - advising the audience that “the breaking news [is] nuclear fire burning and nobody cares/mass scale destruction” while Wall Street just keeps on trying to make money. It closes with “Ode to a Statesman Poet,” an homage to the late senatorial icon Eugene McCarthy. Echoing McCarthy’s stalwart abhorrence of war, Daniels imagines a child who may as well be in either Vietnam or Baghdad. Daniels intones, “It is better to kill you as a boy in [your country] than to have kill you as a man . . . in the USA.” In between, wry observance threads true food for thought. Daniels is joined on 4:20 Report by Van Nixon (vocals, guitar, djembe), Isaac “Ike” Russell (vocals, bass), Dan Boldt (percussion), Dan Schauer (dunebec, djembe) and Charlie Braden (sax) with a guest stint by Nate Stevens (harmonica). It’s a fine album.
As to his sterling career, consider this from a long list of triumphs: he has opened at First Avenue for legendary icons The Wailers, and for dub poet superstar Linton Kwezi Johnson, and he shared the stage with Truthmaze at Harmony Park and the Center for Independent Artists. His plays, Malcolm X Meets Peter Tosh; I, Hoover, Kolorado: A Western Tale and more, have been produced across the country, including here at The Playwrights Center, Acadia Café and Cedar Cultural Center. He enjoys sellout houses and extended runs a regular basis each time he returns to his seminal stomping ground, Denver. There he performs at Mercury Café and B.U.G. Performance and Media Arts Center. You have to wonder if he feels frustrated by the lack of mainstream press coverage. Fact is, he doesn’t let it dent his fender. “I’m humbled and grateful to the folks who have allowed me to present my work by supporting it. It’s all about the people. It’s always been about community.”
Next up is No Work We Cry, a play inspired by the writings of John Steinbeck and the music of Woody Guthrie. Daniels, as he does with all his work, has had the script in long-term development, showing parts of it at this venue, airing the whole script at another. So when he pulls it out of the oven and launches an all-out production, it should be an exciting time. Look for it in the fall. Meanwhile, Daniels is wood shedding. He plans to come out of hiding for a guest stint at KFAI radio’s Wave Project in a few months. And he has been invited to appear on “Spectator” at Minneapolis Telecommunications Network (MTN, Ch-17). Other than that, there aren’t any plans for a third printing of Talkin’ Roots. But you can get it at Electric Fetus or online at CD Baby. And you’ll be very glad you did.
http://www.insightnews.com/aesthetics.asp?mode=display&articleID=2879
reviews
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It was interesting and awesome
author: Fran CannonThe 4:20 report was eloquent, well written, and spoken, and the background music was excellent :)
One of a kind artist. Beauty, wisdom and soul.
author: Archie LogsdonDavid is a one of a kind artist with beauty, wisdom and soul to spare. The band is cool, tight and free and backs him up perfectly. Don't miss out on a very cool experience...
love it--love it---awesome----keep it comin
author: Keri SingletonThought provoking to the max--totally engrossing--totally enjoyable--so much collective talent--so happy to have gotten the chance to hear this------beautiful!!!!!
Unfreakin' Believable
author: Summer HicksThanks David, such originality. I really liked it. Luv,