REVIEWS
Jazzed Magazine - Fully Immersed: Jeff Denson’s Journey as an Artist and Educator, by Christian Wissmuller, August 19, 2020
★★★★ All About Jazz – Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, Brian Blade: Between Two Worlds, by Friedrich Kunzmann, November 19, 2019
★★★1/2 DownBeat – Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, Brian Blade: Between Two Worlds, by Chris Barton, January, 2020
San Francisco Classical Voice – A Threeway Conversation With Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon, and Brian Blade, by Andrew Gilbert, September 3, 2019
★★★★ JAZZ THETIK – Jeff Denson: Outside My Window, July 2018
Jazz Thing – Jeff Denson: Outside My Window, June 2018
Nmz Neue Musikzeitung – Jeff Denson: Outside My Window, August 2018
Bass Musician – Outside My Window, By Valery Amador, May 2018
★★★★ DownBeat – SF String Trio, By J. Poet, October, 2017
★★★★ All About Jazz – SF String Trio, By James Nadal, August 23, 2017
East Bay Express – SF String Trio, By Lou Fancher, June 11, 2017
Peghead Nation – SF String Trio, By Derk Richardson, September 16, 2017
Jazz Podium – Outside My Window, By Teddy Doering, June 2018
★★★1/2 DownBeat – Jeff Denson: Outside My Window, By Alma Hill, September, 2018
All About Jazz – Jeff Denson: Outside My Window, By Jerome Wilson, June 17, 2018
San Francisco Chronicle – Arts & Ends: Jeff Denson at jazz fest, Jennifer Hudson at brain health event, By Jesse Hamlin, August 8, 2018
JazzTimes – Live Review: 2018 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, By Chris J. Walker, August 22, 2018
JazzPodium – SF String Trio, By Alexander Schmitz, September 2017
★★★★ DownBeat – Jeff Denson Quartet, Concentric Circles, October 2016
All About Jazz – Jeff Denson Quartet: Concentric Circles, By Jerome Wilson, July 30, 2016
Gapplegate Music Review – Jeff Denson Quartet, Concentric Circles
The Art Music Lounge – Jeff Denson Runs Rings Around “Concentric Circles,” July, 2016
Jazz Tokyo – Jeff Denson Quartet, Concentric Circles, By Kayo Fushiya, August, 2017
Tone Audio – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, October, 2015
Jazzpodium – Concentric Circles, July 2016
SFGate – "Denson running in Concentric Circles," David Wiegand, July 27, 2016
Jazz Trails – Jeff Denson Quartet - Concentric Circles, August 8, 2016
Improvijazzation Nation – Jeff Denson Quartet, Concentric Circles
Music Zoom – Jeff Denson Quartet – Concentric Circles, 2016
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Jeff Denson Quartet, Concentric Circles, January. 2017
Jazz Podium – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, October, 2015
All About Jazz – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz 4 Star Review, Mark Corroto, July 2015
All About Jazz – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz 3 1/2 Star Review, Dan Bilawsky, July 2015
Jazz Weekly – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, September 2015
Organissimo Forums – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, June 2015
JazzdaGama – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, October 2015
The Buffalo News – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, Raul da Gama, August 2015
Jazz Society of Oregon – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, July 2015
Midwest Record – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, June 2015
Westzeit – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, July 2015
NDR – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, July 2015
El Norte de Castilla – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, Universijazz Festival Review July 2015 (English)
Jazz-Fun – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, July 2015
Rondo – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, July 2015
Five by Five, Jazz Tokyo – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Review, October 2015 (English)
Jazz Tokyo – Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, By Kayo Fushiya, October, 2015
"Opening up the cardboard package of the new Jeff Denson Trio album is a photograph of three youngish middle-aged men -- Jon Arkin with his drumstick, Dan Zemelman with a portable keyboard, bassist Jeff Denson sans bass -- and an alto saxophone-carrying geezer, who happens to be Lee Konitz, presently age 87. Koniz is another of those great jazz artists who, like the Energizer bunny, keeps going and going. He was on the Birth of The Cool session, toured with Stan Kenton, and has recorded since with an amazing assortment of contemporary jazz musicians. Denson was part of the Lee Kontiz New Quartet (3 albums). This particular album was recorded at Fantasy Studios, but it seems to be a more intimate, relaxed and casual setting, as if the musicians were more interested in having fun, particularly when both Denson and Koniz scat. The real surprise is hearing Denson sing in Blue Skies, Body and Soul, and Skylark with a pleasant voice (reminding me of Smith Dobson). Denson had not sung professionally since his high school funk and rock band days. Since then, he turned to jazz at Berklee College of Music, Florida State University, earned his doctorate in composition at the University of California at San Diego, and teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory [JazzSchool]. It was Konitz who urged him to vocalise.
The album honors Konitz's mentor Lennie Tristano with three rarely heard challenging, convoluted be-bop pieces: Baby; East Thirty-second; and 317 East 32nd Street, which was the address of Tristano's rehearsal studio above an auto repair shop. Denson's bass joins Kontiz's unique saxophone voice in the second track with an improvised bluesy duet plus mutual scat commentary. East 32nd showcases the melodic bass, bright piano work, bouncy drum beat, and Konitz's humorous strained scat.”
– Dr. Debra Jan Bibel TOP 500 REVIEWER on July 7, 2015, Amazon
DOWNBEAT – Two & I'll Fly Away, 4 Stars
July 2014
JAZZ TIMES – Two & I'll Fly Away
July 2014
"Never satisfied to merely accept the role of a session player and with a forward thinking vision to expand his horizons as a leader, Jeff Denson is quickly moving up the improvisational food chain as one of the preeminent bassists in world."
– Brent Black, criticaljazz.com
"...master of the jazz bass.."
– Lee Hilldebrand, SF Chronicle, June 1, 2014
"...Denson's masterly bow work. Denson's singing bass...tour de force..."
– Andrew Gilbert, California Report, NPR Radio
"Double bassist Jeff Denson capitalizes on his considerable gifts as an improviser, interpreter and sonic trailblazer..."
– Ken Micaleff, Downbeat Magazine, July 2014
[I'll Fly Away and Two] - "... most emblematic of Jeff Denson's formidable abilities and idiomatic flexibility."
– Ron Wynn, JazzTimes Magazine, July/August 2014
"Absolutely brilliant."
– Robert Bush, NBC San Diego, June 10, 2014
[I'll Fly Away] "makes meaningful contributions to the tradition of piano-bass duets possibly initiated by Duke Ellington and Jimmy Blanton in 1940."
– Benjamin Franklin V., Music Charts Magazine, July 3, 2014
[I'll Fly Away and Two] - "Bassist Jeff Denson has a pair of duet discs that are as diverse as you can desire."
– George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly, July, 3 2014
[I'll Fly Away] - "One of the finest bass and piano discs to surface in a long time, I'll Fly Away, is worth seeking out."
– Robert Bush, All About Jazz, April 18, 2014