The Danielle Wertz Quintet: Other Side Release Tour

The Danielle Wertz Quintet: Other Side Release Tour
New York, NY
Grant amount: $15,000

About the Artist

Danielle Wertz is an award-winning artist on the rise, making a name for herself as a jazz vocalist, composer and arranger. The New York City based artist weaves togeth erelements of modern jazz, folk and the use of her voice as an instrumental texture to create an intimate and personal musical world. Described as, "untarnished by the politics of music" (Jazz Music Archives) and "at home alongside more contemporary exponents of improvised singing" (LoudMouth, AU) Danielle has rapidly gained national acclaim.

After being named a 2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition semi-finalist, Danielle independently released her debut album, Intertwined. This collaboration with Israeli pianist, Tal Cohen, was ranked #4 on Capital Bop's list of "Best DC Jazz Albums of 2017" and has continued to receive high praise since its release. That same year Danielle placed 2nd in the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition, 3rdin the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition, and co-led a concert with Lena Seikaly celebrating women in jazz at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Danielle Wertz Quintet features Sam Priven on alto saxophone, Jake Shapiro on piano, Noah Garabedi an on bass and Evan Hyde on drums. The quintet has completed two tours since recording Danielle’s forthcoming album in August 2021, playing venues including Blues Alley Jazz (DC), The Soapbox Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Rockwood Music Hall (NYC), Rudy’s Jazz Room (Nashville, TN), The Art Boutiki (San Jose, CA), The Sharp 9 Gallery (Durham, NC) and the Gaithersburg Arts Barn (MD). In addition to her solo career, Danielle is an avid collaborator. She has recently been featured on recording projects alongside Javier Santiago, Aaron Janik, Justin Rock, Ambrose Akinmusire, J. Hoard, Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, Nathan Bickart and Andrew Dixon. She has also had the privilege of performing with many renowned musicians in a professional, non-academic setting including Kate McGarry, Cyrille Aimée, Jeff Denson, Keith Ganz, Shelly Berg, Chris Botti, Michael Bowie, Ben Goldberg, Scott Amendola, Mark G. Meadows and Chris Grasso.