Bio

Ashley Daneman is a jazz singer and songwriter whose work explores the fault lines between deep self-reflection, vulnerability, and personal transformation. DownBeat says she’s “carving out her own voice” and that her work is “an intriguing balance between the soaring virtuosity of Joni Mitchell and the earthy Americana of Becca Stevens.”

Daneman’s intimate, ethereal, folky jazz feels like a late-night conversation between old friends - unfiltered, honest, and unmistakably human. She has appeared at festivals, concert series, music venues, and jazz clubs, including the Kennedy Center, Zinc Bar, and Cornelia Street Cafe.

Her new album, Big Dreams Die Slowly, follows her 2019 critically acclaimed release, People Are Fragile, and her 2015 debut, Beauty Indestructible - selected by DownBeat as “Editor’s Pick.” It features musicians from the Chicago scene: Rob Clearfield on piano, wurlitzer, and rhodes; Matt Gold on guitar; Andrew Vogt on bass; and Reuben Garza on drums.

The process of creating Big Dreams Die Slowly emerged from a challenging and confusing period of mental and physical burnout after the pandemic. During this time, Daneman discovered she's neurocomplex - a revelation that reframed how she arrived in burnout to begin with and provided crucial context for struggles she’d been navigating for years.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Daneman studied classical voice and musical theatre before turning to jazz and songwriting in her twenties. She honed her craft in Washington, DC, New York City, and by touring around the U.S. Daneman earned a masters in Jazz Vocal Performance from Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, and Theo Bleckmann.

Daneman was selected as a resident composer for Betty Carter’s JazzAhead and The Banff Centre’s Jazz and Creative Workshop in Alberta, Canada. Oregon’s NPR awarded her the Joni Mitchell/Laura Nyro “Mojo” Award for music that “best embraces the dedication, hard-work, fearlessness, originality, eclecticism, and discipline of Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro’s work.”

Daneman lives in beautiful Savannah, GA with her husband, trumpeter Benje Daneman, and their children.