Ted Daniel

Did You Know?

• He recorded Sonny Sharrock's first album, Black Woman, after returning briefly to New York while still studying in Ohio.
• Daniel's group Energy was an eighteen-piece band recorded live at Ali's Alley, released as a double album on Ujamma Records in 2023.
• Daniel formed a duo with Michael Marcus on B♭ clarinet; their first release was Duology on Boxholder Records.

Biography

Ted Daniel first picked up the trumpet in elementary school, and his professional start came from playing local shows alongside childhood friend and guitarist Sonny Sharrock. He spent short stints at Berklee School of Music and Southern Illinois University before being drafted into the army in 1966, where he played in the 9th and 25th Infantry Division Bands in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. After leaving the service in 1968, a full music scholarship took him to Central State College in Ohio.

There he met and studied under Dr. Makanda Ken McIntyre. Following a year of study, Daniel moved back to New York City and eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition from the City College of New York. His recording career kicked off while he was still in Ohio. He then returned to New York to play on Sonny Sharrock’s debut album, Black Woman.

His next recording came with Brute Force, a group he co-led with his brother Richard Daniel; the album, also called Brute Force, came out on the Embryo label and was produced by Herbie Mann. Over the years, Daniel has appeared on more than 30 records, working with musicians like Archie Shepp, Dewey Redman, Andrew Cyrille, Sam Rivers, Billy Bang, and Henry Threadgill. He has led workshops at Amherst College, Bennington College, Williams College, and the University of Hosei in Tokyo, and has run a seminar in Madrid, Spain, plus summer music programs for high school and college students in his own community.

Daniel has released three albums under his own name: The Ted Daniel Sextet on Ujamaa Records, Tapestry on Sun Records, and In The Beginning on Altura recordings. That last one features a twelve-piece ensemble including Oliver Lake, Arthur Blythe, Charles Tyler, and David Murray. This group later grew into Energy, an eighteen-piece band whose live set at Ali’s Alley was released as a double album on Ujamma Records in 2023.