Acclaimed NYC Saxophonist Set To Perform At Westfield Jazz Series

WESTFIELD, NJ — Daniel Bennett first picked up a saxophone when he was 10 years old and hasn't been able to put it down since.

Bennett and his fellow band members are now set to perform at the Weiss Family Jazz Series in Westfield's Mindowaskin Park on Thursday, Sept. 15.

Sponsored by the Westfield Memorial Library Foundation, the Weiss Family Jazz Series was established with a bequest to the library in memory of longtime patrons, Joseph and Dorothy Weiss. The jazz series has been on pause since 2020, due to the pandemic, and Bennett said he is excited to be part of the reboot.

The Daniel Bennett Group, which features Bennett on saxophone, Koko Bermejo on drums and keyboard (which he miraculously can play at the same time) and acclaimed bassist Kevin Hailey, recently dropped their new album "New York Nerve." They will perform songs from the new album at their Westfield performance, according to Bennett.

Bennett said his love for saxophone started when he was 10 years old and his sisters took him to a high school band concert where he heard a kid play "The Pink Panther" theme song on a tenor saxophone.

"I was blown away," Bennett said. "When we got to choose our band instrument [at school], we had three choices, and I put saxophone, saxophone, saxophone."

From that point, Bennett grew up playing in the marching band and jazz band in Rochester, New York.

In his early 20s, Bennett moved to Boston to attend the New England Conservatory where he studied both classical saxophone and jazz. He later played with the Portland Symphony in Maine, the New Hampshire Festival Orchestra and many dinner cruise boats, weddings and private events.

"But really my passion at that point was to compose and to be a touring musician and to really have my own sound," Bennett said.

In 2004, he formed the Daniel Bennett Group, and the band has been touring and traveling together ever since.

The UK Jazz Journal called Bennett, "an outspoken voice of hope," during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his band was recently voted 'Best New Jazz' in Hot House Magazine.

Bennett said during the pandemic, the band found unique ways to perform safely and was able to contract with at least 50 different venues through livestream concerts.

"We also played a lot of venues outdoors in New York, and we literally played outside under heat lamps in the middle of the winter," Bennett said.

The Boston Globe described Bennett's music as, "a mix of jazz, folk and minimalism."

Bennett said the new album, "New York Nerve," is a mix of avant-pop fusion rock and a little bit of surf rock and folk. The band wrote the album during the pandemic when studios first reopened in July of 2020, Bennett told Patch.

"I felt like I really wanted to just make a statement that the music was vibrant and strong here in [New York City]," Bennett said. "That's a big thing for me."

He said his goal was to create music that mades people happy during a dark and difficult time.

Bennett is also the associate director of the New York Jazz Academy in Times Square and recently played woodwinds in 'Blank! The Musical' — the first fully improvised musical to launch on a national stage.

The show will take place at the gazebo in Mindowaskin Park at 7 p.m. If it rains, the show will be held in the library's meeting room. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs.

Find out more information about the concert here, and you learn more about The Daniel Bennett Group on their website.

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.