Eddie Daniels - To Milton With Love

[GA Russell]

EDDIE DANIELS PAYS HOMAGE  TO BRAZILIAN LEGEND MILTON NASCIMENTO WITH  TO MILTON WITH LOVE,  TO BE RELEASED ON CD BY RESONANCE RECORDS ON AUGUST 29, 2025   Acclaimed Multi-Reedist’s 3rd Tribute to the Musical Icons of Brazil Reimagines Nascimento’s Landmark 1969 Album Courage with an Ensemble Featuring Anthony Wilson (g), Josh Nelson (p), Kevin Axt (b), Ray Brinker (d) and the Lyris String Quartet   Extensive 16-Page Booklet Includes Liner Notes by Award-Winning Author and Historian James Gavin

 

Eddie Daniels takes his ongoing celebration of Brazilian musical legends to new and ambitious territory with Resonance Records’ release of To Milton With Love as a CD and digital download on August 29th. (A worldwide release will follow on September 19th.)   Master clarinetist and saxophonist Daniels pays homage to Brazil’s great singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Milton Nascimento with a bold re-creation of Courage, Nascimento’s second studio album, released in 1969 by CTI Records. It is Daniels’ third tribute album to an icon of Brazilian music, following 2018's Grammy-nominated Heart of Brazil: A Tribute to Egberto Gismonti, and 2020's Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins (both also released on Resonance).   Recorded at Resonance Records Studio in Beverly Hills and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at the state-of-the-art Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas, To Milton With Love was produced by Resonance founder and co-president George Klabin.

Eddie Daniels © Paul Gitelson

Daniels leads a breathtaking ensemble on To Milton With Love, including Grammy-nominated guitarist Anthony Wilson, pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker. In addition, the album features the coruscating work of the Lyris String Quartet, with lush arrangements by Kuno Schmid and Josh Nelson.    The package includes detailed liner notes by James Gavin, the author of widely praised biographies of Chet Baker, Peggy Lee, and Lena Horne, as well as a fond remembrance by Klabin of his long-ago chance encounter with the great Nascimento—an encounter that helped to inspire this album’s creation.   “In 1969, by total coincidence, I attended a small New York City jazz club to hear my friends Airto and Flora Purim play,” Klabin recalls. “After their set they introduced me to a very quiet young man seated in the listening area, named Milton Nascimento, who was in New York to record his first album for A&M Records at the famous Rudy Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey.”    The album he made during that stay was indeed Courage, featuring Herbie Hancock and vast orchestral arrangements by Eumir Deodato, and already well on its way to becoming a classic when Klabin purchased the record upon release. “I was captivated, never having heard such original and deeply moving melodies strung together,” says Klabin, “and Milton’s lovely plaintive vocals, which seemed to emanate right from his soul!” To this day it remains Klabin’s all-time favorite recording.   In revisiting the music of Courage, Klabin placed Daniels at the helm of an instrumental album, free of attempts to mimic or evoke Nascimento’s inimitable singing voice, and with brand new arrangements of the familiar tunes (including Nascimento’s beloved “Travessia”). They enlisted the talents of both Nelson and Schmid for the task—the latter reducing the oceanic arrangements of the 1969 album to a more compact string quartet—resulting in an ambitious project that is instantly recognizable to fans of Nascimento, yet compelling in its own originality. (The album concludes with an original Nelson/Daniels composition, “For Milton,” a by-turns poignant and charming duo for piano and soprano saxophone.)    It also contains the unmistakable and irrepressible musical spirit of Eddie Daniels, who stamps every track with his unique blend of joy and beauty.   “At George Klabin’s suggestion, Eddie Daniels kept Nascimento’s singing in mind as he played,” Gavin observes. “‘It’s almost like talking a song, it’s so ethereal,’ he says. ‘I let myself play some jazz here and there and step out in a simple way that I felt belonged to the song, rather than becoming Bird or Coltrane.’

“Daniels has risen to every occasion since 1966, when he made his first solo album for Prestige. At the time he was mainly a tenor saxophonist; he’s also adept at alto, soprano, and flute. But Daniels is famous for his exceptional technique and chameleonlike versatility on clarinet. He can play bebop, Brahms, smooth jazz, and big-band swing; he has backed Freddie Hubbard and Billy Joel. His Prestige debut included Jobim’s “A Felicidade,” one of his first efforts at Brazilian music; he’s been revisiting it ever since.”    To Milton With Love offers a splendid new expedition into that realm.   TRACKS Travessia¹ [4:44]  Vera Cruz¹ [4:48] Tres Pontas¹ [5:28] Outubro¹ [5:14] Courage² [4:42] Rio Vermelho² [3:30] Gira Girou² [5:53] Morro Velho¹ [5:41] Catavento² [3:59] Cancao Do Sal¹ [3:51] For Milton² [5:29]   Arrangements by Kuno Schmid¹, Josh Nelson² All songs (except “For Milton”) composed by Milton Nascimento “For Milton” composed by Josh Nelson   Produced by George Klabin Recording and Mixing Engineers: George Klabin and Tom McCauley Mastered by Matt Lutthans Recorded at Resonance Records Studios, Beverly Hills Album Design: JRocket77 Design

ABOUT THE LABEL Resonance Records is a multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning label (most recently for John Coltrane’s Offering: Live at Temple University for "Best Album Notes") that prides itself in creating beautifully designed, informative packaging to accompany previously unreleased recordings by the jazz icons who grace Resonance's catalog. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Resonance Records is a division of Rising Jazz Stars, Inc. a California 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation created to discover the next jazz stars and advance the cause of jazz. Current Resonance Artists include Tawanda, Eddie Daniels, Tamir Hendelman, Christian Howes and Donald Vega. www.ResonanceRecords.org

[mr jazz]

Good to read. I emailed him last year and he replied he was basically retired and not playing out.