THE SEVEN HEAVENLY VIRTUES | JazzDaGama December 2013

“It is pleasantly surprising when Joseph Daley ascends from the brassy bass realm of the tuba, putting down his massive instrument, to conduct a chamber orchestra. What should not come as a surprise, however, is that Mr. Daley, a musical intellect of the highest order, should put his mind to another complex project—a follow-up to his 2010 Jaro release The Seven Deadly Sins. This time Mr. Daley delves deep into his soul, coming up to relocate the abstract spirituality of The Seven Heavenly Virtues to his new and wonderful landscape of music. Again, Mr. Daley draws upon his vast and varied knowledge of musical colours—experiences he gained from playing with Gil Evans and Carla Bley, among others—but has decided to rely mainly on a part of the palette (strings accented at times by the melodic orchestral percussion of Warren Smith together with Satoshi Takeishi and Jerry Gonzalez, who also doubles on trumpet, as well as Lafayette Harris and Onaje Allan Gumbs on keyboards. The effects are stupendous, to say the least.”