What the press have to say about Dan…
“Vocalist Alice Zawadzki has been steadily fulfilling the promise of her striking recorded debut on her own account and with a variety of creative UK newcomers, including Phil Meadows and drummer/composer Corrie Dick in recent times. This wide-ranging collection features her congenial partnership with pianist Dan Whieldon, on songs by Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Nina Simone, Galician writer Castelao, Handel and more.
Zawadzki’s delicate intonation and boppish nimbleness and Whieldon’s limpid swing join on Shorter’s Black Nile, the Coltrane classic Naima has a heartfelt simplicity intensified by its haunting closing ascent, the liltingly graceful Spanish song of the title track is warmed by the classical clarinet of Whieldon’s wife Rosa Campos Fernandez. Nina Simone’s I’m Gonna Leave You shows Zawadzki’s sound can be earthy as well as pristine, and Handel’s Lascia Ch’io Pianga is delivered respectfully and meticulously straight. Production values are a little casual (a throat-clearing stays in on Basin Street Blues), but the musicality of these two glows through.”
John Fordham, The Guardian, Thursday 14th January 2016
“Jaw-droppingly good is no overstatement for this special duo concert I had the privilege of attending today. From the very first note of the first piece, Alice’s sensitive vocal improvising interweaved with Dan’s contemplative piano playing in a way that was genuinely captivating, this introduction leading into ‘Para Ti’, a light and airy latin composition from Dan.
Dan is also a master of solo and duo playing, providing the perfect partner, with his exceptional playing. Catch these people before they get to playing the big venues, because there’s a damn good chance they will be, and soon.”
Adrian Stevenson, Manchester Jazz Festival, 2012
“Whieldon is particularly imaginative, and Barras and Backman follow him at every twist and turn – but above all it’s the sense of collective purpose that comes across.
Check out the group performance on a haunting version of Horace Silver’s ‘Peace’, and Dan Whieldon’s dazzling contribution to ‘Autumn Leaves’.”
CD review, JAZZ UK
“Daniel Whieldon, 27 and from Manchester, began the second half with a couple of cool jazz numbers redolent of the late 1950s. Some of the playing thus far had been a smidge too prim, dainty and controlled and I was hankering for a little more grit, chutzpah and feeling, more of the “groove, swing, chance-taking, personal expression and spontaneity” which is how the judges described the playing of the eventual winner.
Daniel’s own composition, aptly named Blues for the Albert, exhibited these qualities in abundance, and left the final pianist with a seriously heavy jazz-gauntlet to pick up.”
Ian Kingsbury, Nottingham Jazzsteps
“Here we got to see at last (Tina) May’s quiet, confident power, which was complimented perfectly by Dan Whieldon on piano. Whieldon really came into his own in the second half.”
www.jazzreview.com
“Their rhythm section swung like crazy. Bassist Steve Berry, drummer Eryl Roberts and outstanding young pianist Dan Whieldon provided truly magnificent collective support and individual contributions.[The club has asked them back for a gig next year.”
www.jazzinsouthport.com
“I enjoyed Dan Whieldon´s piano playing. I thought he was relaxed and assured in his playing, and that sort of sense of assurance within the groove and within your phrasing is very important and I think he had that."
Review of “The Jazz Jury”, The Jazz Digital Radio Station