Daniel Ward

Daniel Ward was chosen to perform along with 20+ other artists at the Sedona Jam Emerging Artists' Music Festival February 9th and 10th 2007 in Sedona AZ.

The performance was refered to as "something very unique and special" by festival administrators, and was a favorite among festival goers. - Sponsored by Sedona Monthly, Sedona Magazine, and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce

"ISTANBUL" was chosen as best song from Daniel Ward's "After the Storm" CD in Global Rhythm Magazine's March 2007 song contest. This issue features the Cheiftans- The song has been be added to a comp CD along with tracks from the Cheiftans, Gilberto Gil, King Sunny Ade, and other artists that is mailed to all Global Rhythm Magazine subscribers. - Global Rhythm Magazine

Daniel Ward's "After the Storm" charted with 5 songs EVERY MONTH in the top 2500 downloads on the worldwide service "Atlantic-satellite.com" from February of 2006- February 2007

Songs were loaded as EMS and this service is tracked by major labels. - Atlantic-satellite.com worldwide chart

Daniel Ward"After the Storm"http://www.danielward.net/
Daniel Ward's music features Flamenco-styled guitar playing front and center. His over 20 years of professional music-making has led him to the Telluride jazz celebration (with world beat group "Caribe"), national and international corporate entertainment with Celebrity Enterprises, extensive work with local groups and the New Mexico Jazz Workshop, and touring the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia/NZ as a member of Ottmar Liebert's group "Luna Negra" between 1997 and 2000. "After the Storm" is his 1st album under his own name. The instrumental affair is supported by John Bartlit - Cajon, Dumbeck, Tamborine, percussion, drumset, Milo Jaramillo and Justin Bransford - Bass, Matthew Vaughn - Violin, Steve Figueroa - Keyboards, John Truitt- winds and guitar. Songs like "Istanbul" naturally reflect a Mid-Eastern sound and vibe while the Flamenco guitar keeps the roots in Spain. "Rio Tango" show the flow of Spanish influence to the New World via the Tango. The title track, "After the Storm" conjures up a more Native American tempo and feel especially with the woodwind instruments. Perhaps this is reflective of Daniel's experiences living in New Mexico. Daniel Ward also performs his music at workshops on pro, college and high school levels either with his group, or as a duo, even solo. He has a degree in classical guitar from the University of New Mexico. His dedication and appreciation of music is most certainly reflected on this recording.
- World Rhythm Webzine

CD review: Daniel Ward, After the Storm (Self-released)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 geetars

He’s trained in jazz, Flamenco and a variety of world music styles, and he’s been performing for more than 20 years. Cedar Crest, NM’s, Daniel Ward has worked not only with Flamenco artists such as Pablo Rodarte and Eva Encinias, his playing can also be heard on various soundtracks, television specials, commercials and CDs.
Not surprising then that his recent release, After the Storm, sounds as expert and professional as it does. Quality, no matter what the genre, is obvious when it’s dished out in such a huge quantity as this. Whether he’s fingering strictly Flamenco, Spanish, Native American, jazz or other, the guitar is seamless - full of power when it needs to stand out and gentle when it wants to voice feeling. Ward is a musician who makes love to his instrument and the connection between him and the strings is undeniable. He is the reason nylon strings were invented.

Pitchperfectreviews.com
- Pitchperfect Reviews

Daniel Ward
After the Storm
(DWM)
Review by Robert Silverstein-20th Century Guitar Magazine August 2006 issue

Having studied classical and flamenco-and later touring with Nuevo flamenco icon Ottmar Liebert between ’97 and 2000-New Mexico guitarist Daniel Ward stakes out his own musical territory with the 2006 CD release of After The Storm. Much like the scenery around the Santa Fe / Sedona area of the southwest, Daniel Ward’s guitar music is both pastoral and harmonically satisfying. Demonstrating impeccable technique and a knack for composing Nuevo flamenco, World beat jazz and soft samba sounds, Ward excels on nylon string guitar, electric guitar, bass, percussion, and keyboards while receiving support from percussionist John Bartlit, and a number of side players. www.danielward.net
- 20th Century Guitar Magazine Aug 2006

Center Stage questions

TCG: Tell us something about your musical background and how long
you’ve been playing guitar.

I’ve been playing since 9th grade, but got serious in college, so that makes 27 years now total. I ended up getting a degree in classical guitar performance from Michael Chapdelaine at the University of New Mexico, and a minor in composition. While there, I played in the percussion and early music ensembles, and accompanied for the flamenco and modern dance programs as well. At night, I played in jazz and world beat bands in the clubs, and eventually did the Telluride Jazz festival with the world music band “Caribe”.

The flamenco and the electric guitars took over more and more after college, and I started to play for dancers and tour as well with Maria Benitez, Eva Encinias, Pablo Rodarte, and others, while studying guitar with Chuscales, John Truitt, and Eric Patterson. I studied jazz guitar with Lewis Winn for years as well. Later on I toured with Ottmar Liebert from 1997-2000.

I guess you could say that I have turned into a “crossover” or hybrid player-


TCG: Tell us about your new CD, (for example) the name of it, when and
where it was recorded, some information on the way the album was
recorded and how it reflects your overall musicianship and guitar
style.

The name of the CD is “After the Storm”. We started it in late 2004, and finished mastering in October of 2005. I tracked and mixed all the parts at EME studio in Cedar Crest NM, and mastered in two studios in Santa Fe- Stepbridge, and Rancho Digital. The EME studio is my studio that I use to do background music for PBS here in NM, commercial spots, and other projects. It was the first time I have done a CD of my own music, so we took a different approach, and really spent some time with arrangement, textures, and groove, and listened back for weeks sometimes before making important decisions. John and I started to joke that we were getting as bad as Donald Fagan and Walter Becker with some of our obsession with detail. An automated mix helped to shape the project a little at a time without going backwards.
John Bartlit and I have worked for years together, and the songs work as a duo with just the two of us as well, so we took what was already working, and added dimension to it. All the other players are the cream of the crop in the Southwest, and great friends as well. Scott Jarrett (Instructor at Music Tech in Minneapolis and brother of Keith Jarrett) was also a huge help in shaping the sound of the CD- He flew out and helped create the delicate balance that keeps the CD both acoustic and electrically layered. We also went on a huge culinary tour of New Mexico with Scott. This helped the mix immensely. Andy Click is a very talented young engineer in Santa Fe who did a phenomenal job on the mastering, so thanx to him too.

I focused on making the songs the center of all the music choices this time. With instrumental music, people will get tired quickly of notes unless the content holds their attention- I hope I did that with this CD.


TCG: Tell us something about your favorite electric guitars and/or
acoustic guitars and the guitars featured on your latest album, adding
in something about your guitar set ups, amps, strings and pedals.

I play Michael Thames Classical and Flamenco Guitars- He is simply one of the very best luthiers in the world, and a good friend. www.thamesguitars.com . They are balanced, great sounding loud guitars with action like a sports car…Can’t say enough. I use the D’Addario hard tension Composites on my nylon guitars.

On the CD I used my other two favorite guitars as well- My Tom Anderson Hollow Classic- The surf green hollow strat that was actually their 1999 NAMM show guitar, and my 1965 Gibson 335 tobacco sunburst. Two very nice guitars.

For the recording, I used a 1957 Ampeg rocket, and the old Ibanez tube screamer (ah). I also sampled some of my own guitar swells and played them back from a keyboard as pads for chord support, mixed with real guitar swells for texture.


TCG: Can you mention some of your musical influences, favorite
guitarists and most influential albums?

Wow- Influences. I’ll list some artists, and also some things that have changed my musical awareness- The first things that come to mind randomly…
Weather Report, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis, all of Flamenco from Traditional to Modern, Joni Mitchel, Jaco Pastorius, Living in Europe, Travel, Cuban, African, Caribbean music. Reggae music, Earth Wind and Fire, Yes, John Cage, Great Food from all parts of the globe.


Guitarists I like in no particular order, and for lots of different reasons- (and I will think of more after this prints of course)- Pat Metheny, Vicente Amigo, Alan Holdsworth, Manolo Sanlucar, Steve Morse, John Scofield, Jeff Beck, Paco de Lucia, Steve Vai, Santana, Van Halen

Some favorite albums (once again, chosen randomly)

Kind of Blue (miles), Black Market (weather report), Close to the Edge (yes),
Metal Fatigue (alan holdsworth), all of Stevie Wonder, Offramp (Pat Metheny)
Just to name a few…

TCG: Can you tell us your web site and email contact info?


www.danielward.net


Thanx TC Guitar!!!
- 20th Century Guitar Magazine sept 2006

Review by Jack Clift (effigy records)

Daniel (Ward) came to us and played on a track for the recently released CD by Jadoo “Prairie Fire”. His playing deeply impressed me, and when I went home to listen to his CD “After the Storm”, I was blown away by the music. The playing is great, but the songs are really good, and manage to fuse several world styles in a clever and very listenable way. The wonderful balance in the recording of acoustic and electric instruments is no easy feat, and the overall sonic quality is up there with the best. Bravo…
- Jack Clift with effigy Records

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Dear Daniel,

I just wanted to take the time to let you know just how appreciated your
presence was at Glendale College this past semester. The
combination of flamenco workshop, ensemble collaborations, and performances
inspired everyone who took part, whether as a player or an audience member.
As the instructor and coordinating host, let me just thank you for being not
only an excellent presenter and teacher, but an astounding musician and
gracious guest artist. The information you conveyed in the workshop was
perfect for the variety of levels that were attending.

Your explanation and instruction on the rudiments of flamenco was very
methodically organized with a logical progression. The students enjoyed that
you covered not only rasgueado, but alzapua, tremelo, arpeggio, and picado.
I particularly enjoyed your breakdown and delivery of Sevillanas. It really
seemed as though the class was ready to accompany dancers by the end. Let me
also say that the addition of John Bartlit on percussion brought a depth to
the material and enriched the experience for the guitarists in the workshop.
If only we could all learn this way form the beginning!

Thank you so much for enriching our program, we will feed off of the
information in the coming year. We hope you will be our guest again in the
future, we would gladly welcome any opportunity. Your duo concert was amazing. As inspiring and sonically impressive as your CD is it was a real treat for us to see you in person.
I wish you the best of luck.


Sincerely,

Chuck Hulihan
Director of Guitar Programs
Glendale College
6000 W. Olive Avenue
Glendale AZ 85302
office: 623.845.3715
email: charles.hulihan@gcmail.maricopa.edu
http://www.duozona.com
http://www.myspace.com/duozona
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- Glendale College AZ