Dr. Dee Daniels is an accomplished vocalist and musician’s musician who passionately delivers timeless performances across genres, including jazz, blues, gospel, and her own original compositions. Beyond her mastery of craft, she is guided by a lifelong belief in the power of music to uplift, connect, and heal — a belief that shapes every performance and every teaching moment.
A sultry songsmith and master storyteller, she has performed for royalty and international dignitaries on multiple occasions and boasts an extensive list of performances with both combos and big bands. Her international career has taken her across Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, South America, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Egypt, twelve African countries, and throughout the United States and Canada.
She crossed into the classical world with the creation of her spellbinding Symphony Pops programs, including Great Ladies of Swing, The Great American Swing Book, A Night Out With The Boys, The Soul of Ray: The Music of Ray Charles, Red, Hot, and Blues, and her Joyful - Christmas Pops. She also shares the stage with Juno Award winner Denzal Sinclaire in their highly acclaimed Pops program Unforgettable: The Music of Nat and Natalie Cole. Dee has performed and recorded with orchestras throughout North America and abroad. In addition to her accredited presence and magnetic prowess on keys, she adds a spellbinding five-octave vocal range to her distinctive, soulful interpretations of every song she touches.
Her vocal style was born deep in the gospel roots of her stepfather’s Baptist church choir in Oakland, California, refined through the R&B era, and polished during a five-year stay in the Netherlands and Belgium (1982–1987). Dee Daniels has performed and recorded with the who’s who of the jazz world — including Clark Terry, Benny Green, Houston Person, John Clayton, Cyrus Chestnut, Kenny Barron, Benny Golson, Monty Alexander, Christian McBride, Hank and Elvin Jones, Russell Malone, and many more.
What sets her apart is not only her technical excellence but her commitment to emotional truth — every performance a reminder that music at its best transcends genre and speaks to the human spirit.
In 2020, the National Congress of Black Women of Canada honored Dee with a Legacy Award. In 2010, she received a nomination for an Atlanta Theater Suzi Bass Award. She was presented the President’s Award by Capilano University in 2008, and in 2009 became the first recipient of the University’s Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts. In 2003, she received the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and was inducted into the University of Montana’s School of Fine Arts Hall of Honor (following a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997). In 2002, she was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame and added to Vancouver’s Granville Street Walk of Fame — all testaments to her excellence and enduring influence.
Dee’s career has also extended into theatre, including the 2009 premiere of Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away and the critically acclaimed Wang Dang Doodle at Vancouver’s Arts Club Theatre. She is an inspirational speaker whose keynote addresses — from the Women’s CEO & Senior Management Summit in Toronto to commencement ceremonies at Capilano University — are known for blending wisdom, humor, and heartfelt authenticity.
An internationally respected vocal clinician, adjudicator, and mentor, Dee presents workshops, residencies, and masterclasses around the world. A firm believer in mentorship and giving back, she created the Dee Daniels Jazz Vocal Scholarship in 2001 at Capilano University, later relocating it to the DeMiero Jazz Festival in Edmonds, WA (2017). In 2023, she established a second scholarship through the Jazz Education Network (JEN). Her leadership and teaching roles have included the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and the DeMiero Jazz Fest, where she served as Artistic Director for six years. She also founded the Dee Daniels Vocal Jazz Workshop Camp at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in 2013, and served on the Advisory Board of the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival (2002–2008).
Dee has several CDs as a leader to her credit and has appeared as a guest artist on numerous recordings. Her most recent release, Let It Shine! Let It Shine! (2023) is performed in duet with Canadian Juno Award recipient Denzal Sinclaire, which earned her a Western Canada Music Awards nomination for Spiritual Artist of the Year. Her critically acclaimed 2021 album The Promise won multiple international honors, including the POP Awards Album of the Year (Germany), Western Canada Music Awards Spiritual Artist of the Year, and Jazziz Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Top 10 of the Month.
Beyond the accolades and stages, Dee remains most passionate about the transformative power of music — its ability to unite, to heal, and to reveal truth. She continues to see her career as both a gift and a joyful responsibility: to share, to mentor, and to ensure that the legacy of vocal artistry continues to flourish for generations to come.
Dee Daniels is a jazz vocalist with a unique sound, steeped in the art of storytelling through song. Performing a mix of standards, blues, gospel, and original compositions, all with interesting and unique arrangements, she transcends musical borders when she brings her jazz styling, infused with gospel and blues flavoring to the stage.
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With a palpable authenticity, towering five-octave range, and a powerful blues and gospel-tinged jazz vocal approach, Dee Daniels has built a sterling reputation amongst jazz fans and critics around the world for over four decades. Well represented throughout her career in performances and recordings with such jazz luminaries as Monty Alexander, Russell Malone, Cyrus Chestnut, Houston Person, John Clayton, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, to mention a few, she has also performed and/or recorded with symphony orchestras and big bands globally. Learn more about Dee at www.deedaniels.com
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Dee Daniels is a unique talent who transcends musical borders when she brings her jazz styling to the stage, infused with gospel and blues flavoring. She performs and records globally with symphony orchestras, big bands, combos, and numerous jazz legends, including Monty Alexander, John Clayton, Wycliffe Gordon, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Alexander, Ken Peplowski, and Russell Malone. Dee has 15 CDs as a leader to her credit, including her latest release, Let It Shine! Let It Shine!, in duo with Juno-nominated vocalist Denzal Sinclaire, and the 2021 multi-award-winning and critically acclaimed CD, The Promise. Her 2013 release, State of the Art, on Criss Cross Jazz Records which made her the first vocalist and female leader in the label’s 40+ year history. Visit www.deedaniels.com for detailed information about Dee’s extensive career.
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With a palpable authenticity, towering five-octave range, and a powerful blues and gospel-tinged jazz vocal approach, Dee Daniels has built a sterling reputation amongst jazz fans and critics around the world for over five decades. One critic says, “Daniels is effortless and fluid in reaches that defy other singers. Her voice is so enchanting that the words she sings almost don’t matter. She embodies the music, the sound becomes flesh.” Dee has 15 CDs as a leader and has performed and/or recorded with the who’s who of the Jazz world, including Jazz legends, both past and present. The list includes Benny Green, Houston Person, Russell Malone, Wycliffe Gordon, Cyrus Chestnut, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, Toots Thielemans, Hank and Elvin Jones, Monty Alexander, Lionel Hampton, and Herb Ellis. She is the recipient of many awards in music, education, and community services. Her awards include the 2022 Pop Award (Germany) for Album of the Year; Legacy Award from the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; Western Canadian Music Award; Global Music Award; the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame; and a 2009 Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Arts.
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Dee Daniels is a crowd pleaser and a musician’s musician. Whether accompanying herself at the piano, fronting a trio, big band or symphony, she is a unique talent who transcends musical borders when she brings her jazz styling, infused with gospel and blues flavouring, to the stage.
The stepdaughter of a Baptist minister, Dee was born and raised in Oakland, CA. Though she graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education, music was always a big part of her life. However, she didn’t discover her true calling to it until after teaching art in a Seattle high school for a year. She then joined a band, resigned her teaching position, and the rest is history!
She has since traveled the world with her music. She has shared the stage and/or recorded with numerous legends of jazz including Houston Person, Monty Alexander, John Clayton, Russell Malone, Cyrus Chestnut, Ken Peplowski, and Lewis Nash to mention a few. Her diverse career has seen her in clubs, on festivals, prestigious music halls around the world, theater stages, television and radio, performances for royalty and international dignitaries, and on many recordings as leader or guest.
Dee has also established herself as a jazz vocalist in demand by the classical world, performing her five symphonic Pops programs with orchestras in the US, Canada, and Europe. Many organizations and institutions in and out of the music industry have recognized Dee with awards for her contributions in music, education, and community service.
Discography
"RYAN OLIVER QUARTET: LIVE IN VANCOUVER" - 2024(Guest Artist) Recorded at Frankie's Jazz Club, Vancouver, BC
"LET IT SHINE! LET IT SHINE!" - 2024
"PAYIN' MY DUES" - 2023JAY LAWRENCE & THE PLATINUM JAZZ ORCHESTRA (Guest Artist)
"LET FREEDOM RING (THE BALLAD OF JOHN LEWIS)" - 2021
Dee Daniels sounds like many artists wrapped together in one package as she draws from jazz, classical and gospel music with her smooth inspirational voice. A force of spiritual bliss and freedom, Daniels’ vocal style was first molded in her stepfather’s Baptist church choir in Oakland, California. From these gospel roots she has continued her musical growth, becoming fluent in multiple genres and sharing the beautiful sound of her voice around the world. Daniels’ new release, The Promise, combines both the sacred and secular aesthetic of her artistry as she reflects on her current moment in life and battle with breast cancer. Upon learning about her condition in 2014, Daniels’ initial response was to remain calm: “I knew in my heart that I was about to embark on a journey that would lead me to the answer.”
Daniels’ journey is reflected in the album’s 14 inspirational tracks such as “Choose Me,” which is about depending on Jesus in times of trouble, “letting his love and mercy fill your heart from day to day” to resolve your problems. “I Am Forgiven,” featuring a beautiful piano and Hammond organ intro, is about repentance, facing your sins and making peace with God and man to gain true freedom. Similarly, the smooth jazz guitar ballad, “Love Inside,” speaks of the revelation of God’s love, which is the source of inner strength and direction. Another song worth mention is the album’s first single, “Let Freedom Ring: The Ballad of John Lewis,” a tribute to the late civil rights leader and politician.
Daniels brings the vibe and the spirit to her music, creating an encouraging and strengthening moment for all of her listeners, especially those who may also be facing a battle with cancer. She is the true definition of a hero and The Promise is a direct reflection of her fortitude, courage and wisdom.
Dee Daniels Soars - Vocalist brings the good stuff Friday night by Shawn O’Neal Daily News staff writer
It’s become the natural question this time each year. If Dee Daniels doesn’t draw a standing ovation, has the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival actually taken place?
Alas, the answer will have to wait for at least another year. In a night highlighted by female vocalists, the festival went to its first lady for an opening salvo and, as usual, the Vancouver, B.C. singer brought the crowd to it’s feet.
A night after teaming with singer Roberta Gambarini and saxophonist Houston Person to deliver one of the festival’s early highlights with “Honeysuckle Rose,” Daniels broke out the good stuff again Friday. Daniels’ bluesy deliver on “Dr. Feelgood” made the standing ovation that followed seem anticlimactic as the crowd had started rising to its feet before she was even finished.
Daniels was helped along by the guitar solo of Russell Malone, who seemed to revel in the song’s blues leanings. “It’s great to be here, especially when you have these guys up here with you,” Daniels said.
She was speaking of the house quartet of Malone, drummer Jeff Hamilton, bassist John Clayton and pianist Benny Green who gave way to Daniels on piano. Hamilton laid down a blistering solo on the opening tune, drawing the crowd’s early appreciation and – as Daniels did for the singers – setting the bar for the rest of the night’s instrumentalists.
More Daniels Needed by Mary Kunz, News Classical Music Critic The Buffalo News, Buffalo, New York
Dee Daniels’ voice brings to mind all the most delirious adjectives: Honeyed. Sweet. Low, rich, smooth and slow as molasses.
In “Everything Ellingto,” Daniels ended the first set with “I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good.” It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard. By the time she finished the lament, she sounded as if she were sobbing into the microphone.
To round things out, she also belted out an “Everyday I Have The Blues” that would have brought a grin to Joe Williams’ face. This woman brought the house down. The raucous blues ended with a high note the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever heard. Daniels held that note until it was thin as ribbon, then fattened it out and pulled it down into the lowlands. That’s the blues! After that, it’ll be a little tough to go back to the band at the corner bar.
RPO swing with the best by John Pitcher, Staff Music Critic Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY
Jazz vocalist Dee Daniels joined the RPO to sing a selection of Basie and Ellington songs, and she had little trouble stealing the show. In the great vocal tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, Daniels does much more than simply sing precisely and on pitch -- which she always did.
Instead, she used the extraordinary range and velvety texture of her voice like an instrument, wrapping its smoky texture around each word of a lyric to give the song added meaning, nuance and expression.
Showstoppers, Dee Daniels’ jazz liven Palm Beach Pops concert at the Kravis Center by David A. Frye Special to the Palm Beach Daily News
The second half of the program was dedicated to the “Great Ladies of Swing,” Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, with guest soloist Dee Daniels returning to the Pops stage.
Daniels, a vocalist with a four-octave range, has hung and sung with many of the best in the business, including Vaughan.
In short, the Great American Songbook is in her DNA. But while the easiest thing for a performer with this kind of assignment to do is to attempt to re-create the essence of the singers - or worse, slip into impressions of them - Daniels truly honored these "great ladies" by putting her own distinctive style on songs they made famous. The result was a performance that was amazingly fresh and fun.
CSO showcases Jazz Chanteuse Dee Daniels by Lindsay Koob Night of Nostalgia Charleston City Paper
The Charleston Symphony began its McCrady’s Pops series with a bang last Saturday, treating a fair-sized audience to a delightful evening of swing-era standards from jazz vocalist-extraordinaire Dee Daniels.
The program, entitled Great Ladies of Swing, was a tribute to four of our greatest jazz chanteuses: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Sarah Vaughan. Given their exalted statures, it wasn’t hard to come up with lots of great music.
No sooner had she delivered “There’ll Be Some Changes Made,” her first number, when she paused to chat with her listeners from the stage – and she soon had us laughing a lot and eating out of her hand. I kid you not: The lady stood a willowy six-foot-five (in four-inch heels), but she asked us to imagine her as a short, very voluptuous creature with a “blond bob” – even though (as she pointed out) she’s black.
She soon had us trained to respond to her questions with resounding choruses of “Yes, Dee.”
After all, she had mesmerized us by then, with that fabulous voice of hers. Her vocal foundation is a rich, often breathy alto, but she made it croon, whimper, simper, flirt, cajole, sob, growl, and scream. She indulged her stupefying four-octave range now and then – swooping up into the vocal stratosphere and laying down silky, spine-tingling strings of high notes.
I wish I had room to tell you about all the wonderful, nostalgia-ridden songs she brought to vivid life, but my faves included two Billie Holiday numbers: “God Bless the Child” and a sock-it-to-’em piece called “Gimme a Pigfoot.” Ella Fitzgerald treasures included “Summertime,” “Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good).” Among the Sarah Vaughan specialties were “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” and “Send in the Clowns.”
The CSO – her “big band” backup for the evening – did some sweet swinging of its own under resident conductor Scott Terrell. Then there was her terrific combo: Ted Brancato at the piano, with Russell Botten on bass and Greg Williamson on drums.
Did we all have the kind of “finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’, head-bobbin’ good time” that she told us to? And do we want her to come back soon?
All together, now: “Yes, Dee.”
Dee Daniels - Vancouver’s Honeysuckle Rose by Joe Montague Riveting Riffs Magazine
Singing a jazz cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s, “Can’t Hide Love,” Dee Daniels was impressive from the time that she took to the stage, with her opening tune, at the Kay Meek Centre Studio Theatre in West Vancouver, Canada. Daniels, whose music receives plenty of airplay in both the United States and Canada, kicked off Vancouver’s Winter Song Festival, in the intimate, studio theater, which had been redesigned to take on a jazz lounge like atmosphere.
Dressed in high heels that put the statuesque Daniels well over six feet tall, sheer charcoal colored slacks, and a charcoal and red embroidered jacket, her long fingers, curled around the microphone, as she cooed the Stevie Wonder tune, “Another Star,” which Daniels covered for her JAZZINIT CD.
Daniels, infused the 1926 Fred Rose and Walter Hirsch song, “Deed I Do,” with passion and intimacy, while injecting sense of flirting with both the lyrics and her audience. Stage actress and singer Ruth Etting, first made the song famous recording it for Columbia, however it is Dee Daniels, who on this evening delivered with authenticity, the lines, “Do I love you? / Oh my, do I? Honey, ’deed I do!” Were she not wearing a wedding ring, there may have been more than a few suitors lining up between sets.
Daniel’s first set consisted mostly of songs from what numerous artists are now referring to as the New American Songbook. Tunes such as James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” the Otis Taylor / Aretha Franklin song, “Respect,” Lionel Richie’s, “Hello,” and Ruby and The Romantic’s, # 1 song from 1963, “Our Day Will Come.” Daniel’s also unveiled an incredible cover of the Doobie Brothers’ “What A Fool Believes.” All of the songs, have been set in new jazz arrangements and can be heard on Daniels’ CD JAZZINIT.
For her second set, Daniels took her fans for a musical stroll down memory lane, dipping into the more traditional standards. Perhaps the most romantic moment of the evening came when Dee Daniels gently cooed, “It Had To Be You,” leaving the listener with not much else to do but sigh, and with thoughts of whispering “I love you,” in the ear of that someone special.
Incredible Singer Dee Daniels Has a Four-Octave Range by Red Robinson The Vancouver Sun
“Silky impassioned.” “Extraordinary range.” “She can sing gospel, jazz and blues comfortably and with great emotion.” These are some of the descriptions various publications around the world have used to proclaim the incredible talents of Dee Daniels.
Her four-octave range enthralls an audience. Whether she’s performing in an intimate jazz club or fronting a big band or full symphony orchestra, she seems relaxed, comfortable and in command at all times. Like Diana Krall, she accompanies herself on the piano with exceptional ease and artistry.
Her musical journey began in her stepfather’s church choir in Oakland, Calif. She honed her talents in the R&B era, then left for a five-year stay in Europe (1982 - 1987). During those learning years she had the opportunity to perform with jazz legends such as Toots Thielemans, Johnny Griffin and Ed Thigpen to name a few. She even sang the blues with the late Sarah Vaughan and gospel with Joe Williams.
Her career has taken her all over the world and to all the major international festivals including Japan’s Kobe Jazz Street Festival, Ireland’s Cork Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in the US, and of course, the DuMaurier Jazz Festivals here in Canada.
Along with her incredible talent, Daniels is also a very giving person, and in 2001 established the Dee Daniels Jazz Vocal Scholarship at Capilano College for young singers and musicians. Her own honors include the FANS Award (a North Vancouver Arts Council presentation), a nomination for Vocalist of the Year, and a nomination for her Love Story album as Best Jazz CD of the Year by the West Coast Music Awards.
Daniels was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2002, and has a plaque bearing her name on Vancouver’s Walk of Fame on Granville Street. In 2003, she received the prestigious Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and was inducted into the University of Montana’s School of Fine Arts, Hall of Honour.
The artists Daniels has performed with reads like a who’s who: John Clayton Jr., Clark Terry, Hank Jones, Houston Person, Russell Malone, Jeff Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Monty Alexander, and more. Each is a fan of her inimitable talent. She also performs on a regular basis with symphony orchestras including those in Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary, Berlin, Florida, Baltimore and Detroit.
Daniels is passionate about her work and it shows. It is a distinct pleasure for me to have this opportunity to inform you of this amazing lady’s multi-faceted talents.
