Episode #94: Jeff Denson

Jeff Denson has released 16 albums as a leader or co-leader and toured extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe with both his own groups and others at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals such as the Village Vanguard, Birdland, The Kennedy Center, JVC Jazz Festival Paris, Montreal Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, and SFJazz to name a few. Jeff has worked with some of jazz’s finest artists such as Brian Blade, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Jane Ira Bloom, Dave Douglas, Walter Smith III, Rachel Z, Omar Hakim, Gerald Cleaver, Warren Wolf, Leo Genovese, Edward Simon, Paul McCandless, Cuong Vu, Ralph Alessi, Dan Weiss, Lionel Loueke, Romain Pilon, and Mimi Fox, among many others and had an ongoing relationship with the legendary Lee Konitz for over a decade until his passing in 2020.

Jeff has been ranked in the DownBeat Rising Star Critic's Poll ten times in the Bass, Electric Bass, and Male Vocalist categories, and was voted #1 Rising Star Electric Bassist in 2021. Jeff is the Founder and Artistic Director of Ridgeway Arts, Inc., a 501c3 arts nonprofit organization, and the Dean of Instruction at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. Jeff shares his background, education, and musical journey in this episode of Improv Exchange.

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