Residencies/Education

RESIDENCY ACTIVITIES, WORKSHOPS AND MASTER CLASSES

A residency can only be truly successful if it is conceived and developed to be integrated into the goals of the program of the institution for which it is being presented.”

While all fine artists and educators have something valuable to provide in their educational offerings, it is fundamental to Joseph Daley’s vision that his residencies are delivered in keeping with his quote above. 

“My goal is to enhance the program educators’ focus for their students through my own message, while leaving behind something that can be built upon after I’ve left.”

The activities listed here can all be adapted to the recipient program’s needs and purposes. An essential element of Joseph’s residencies is to clearly define with the host program exactly what they want to get out of the residency.

Another key element in Joseph’s vision – and in all of his efforts as composer, performer and educator – is a focus upon innovation combined with passing along the classic oral traditions of recognized masters of the jazz legacy who have directly touched him during his long and productive career.  Joseph is eminently qualified in both aspects. He has been directly touched and influenced by the masters with whom he has performed, including his mentor Sam Rivers, Gil Evans, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Muhal Richard Abrams and Taj Mahal; and his music is highly innovative and adventurous, yet fully conceived within the classic elements of the jazz tradition. In addition, he balanced his extensive performing career with more than 30 years as an educator in the New York and New Jersey school systems.

For those educators who want to expand their students’ minds without undermining the fundamental traditions of the jazz legacy, Joseph Daley is the ideal person for that job.

“I have been so blessed to have been so closely connected with some of the deepest spirits of contemporary jazz. It’s incumbent upon me to return their gifts to me by transmitting what I learned to the future generations of pursuers of this profound music.”

Here is what educators are saying about the Joseph Daley residencies:

Joseph Daley has been a friend, mentor and brass hero of mine since we first worked together twenty years ago. Long known as one of the pioneering virtuosos of improvising tuba players, Joseph has more recently garnered attention for his beautiful large ensemble compositions, drawing on his long experiences with masters like Sam Rivers, Gil Evans, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Carla Bley. With complex rhythmic interplay and counterpoint, and lush post-Ellington harmonies, Joseph’s work simultaneously celebrates the tradition and looks forward to new ideas. It was a pleasure and an honor to have Joseph as a guest composer with my student ensemble at Dartmouth College - his music provided an exquisite challenge for my young musicians, and his guidance brought them to another level as artists - several of my students had palpable breakthroughs as improvisers playing his music and inspired by his ideas, it was a delight to witness.

– Taylor Ho Bynum, director of the jazz and creative music ensemble at Dartmouth College



Joseph Daley made a palpable impact on the culture of our school. While his activity was only one a one-day preview of next year’s residency, the students, faculty and staff he encountered were deeply inspired and moved by Daley’s genuine and infectious spirit. Our program was illuminated with his glow for weeks after. We are greatly looking forward to his upcoming extended residency!

– Dr. Brian Kai Chin, Chair of Music at Seattle Pacific University




In addition to his prolific career as a performer and composer, Joseph Daley is an eloquent and inspiring speaker. His master class at Seattle Pacific University captured the attention and imagination of everyone in the room—his stories, insight, and live performance has the entire department buzzing about his residency next year.

–Steve Treseler, Saxophone Professor at Seattle Pacific University

WORKSHOPS/MASTERCLASSES

Professional comportment

As a highly respected and much-in-demand sideman for many outstanding and demanding international leaders, Joseph Daley has always embodied the highest standards of professional comportment and commitment. His class focuses upon the development of personal conduct and commitment necessary for successful participation in the highly competitive realm of professional musical expression. Specifically, Mr. Daley will cover these three extremely important areas of comportment:

• Discipline - practice, theoretical study, sketch pad development, daily compositional development, exercise and diet

• Responsibility - (as leader or sideman) punctuality, reliability and loyalty

• Preparation - (rehearsing and performing) understanding important rehearsal and performance techniques and their applications

Forming and leading an ensemble

After more than forty years observing some of the music business’s most respected and important leaders, and several years maintaining his own ensembles from his Ebony Brass Quintet to his 20+ member Earth Tones Ensemble, Joseph Daley is fully aware of the demands and necessities that a strong leader faces in maintaining a working group in the most challenging environment of Jazz. His class focuses upon the unique skill sets and applications needed to establish, develop and maintain a working ensemble, covering these areas:

• Instrumentation - selecting the instrumentation of the ensemble best suited for the compositions and style of the music and the professional goals of the group

• Repertoire - selecting the compositions to be performed by the ensemble (originals by leader, originals by the other members, jazz standards, Great American Songbook, etc.) and the styles and arrangements to be employed

• Personnel - Identifying the members of the ensemble with consideration of price, availability, dependency, commitment, attitude, personality, habits, etc.

• Economics - considering the economic viability of developing and maintaining an ensemble within the potential employment possibilities, members’ commitments, geographical considerations, access to rehearsal space, etc

• Rehearsal and performance skills - understanding and developing the necessary organizational and leadership qualities essential to leading an ensemble and recognizing the capabilities of the members to perform both the music and within the unique character of the entity of the ensemble

Recording

With more than 40 recordings as a sideman with a totally diverse set of artists and groups, ranging from Taj Mahal, Natalie Merchant and Hazmat Modine to Sam Rivers, Carla Bley, Gil Evans and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Joseph Daley took on the formidable task of producing a recording of his own Earth Tones Ensemble in late 2009. Featuring an ensemble of nearly 30 musicians, The Seven Deadly Sins was one of the most acclaimed albums of 2011(and the production was a subject of a 23-minute documentary film). His class on recording covers these essential components:

• Pre-production - Planning and developing a full strategy for the most effective use of time in selecting personnel, preparing them for the musical performance, rehearsing and structuring the recording sessions

• Budgeting - Planning and preparing for all possibilities to keep the recording schedule under complete control without sacrificing musical integrity or running into the highly expensive costs related to recording

• Studio and Engineer selection - Researching and reviewing potential studios and engineers to identify the most suitable match and best environment for the music

• Goals and objectives - Creating a detailed roadmap for the full realization of the musical goals by properly preparing all of the personnel and developing a viable timeline that can be effectively maintained

• Post production - Identifying all of the elements of post-production, including overdubbing (if necessary), mixing, editing, repairs, and mastering

MUSIC THEORY

Composition - A highly regarded and honored composer of many compositions ranging from solo pieces to large ensembles, Joseph Daley’s Master Class in Composition focuses upon the development of compositional techniques based upon applied music theory application: Lydian, 12-tone, Blues, Perfect 4ths and 5ths, etc. Mr. Daley will also work with the students in identifying the various instruments to be utilized by recognizing the particular tonal aspects and ranges of the potential instrumentation, as well as incorporating various elements of arranging and orchestration.