I’m happy to announce the CARL 2017 Dirty South Tour! For those of you who don’t know, CARL is Houston’s premier free jazz/doom metal band, featuring me on sax and Andrew Durham on electric bass. We will be coming to a city near you:

7/31- Houston, TX, Avantgarden (w/ Sonia Flores/Damon Choice)
8/1- San Antonio, TX, Lowcountry (w/ The Whale)
8/3- New Orleans, LA, Allways Lounge (w/ Rob Cambre)
8/5- NeuSonics Music Festival (curated by Jamison Williams)

In addition, I (Danny Kamins) will be playing two dates with some different/awesome groups as well:
8/10- Denton, TX, Tom’s Daquiri (quartet w/ Rick Eye, Matt Frerck, Beth Dodds)
8/12- Shreveport, LA, Minicine Swampland (trio w/ Robert Pearson, Victor Hernandez)

Just want to announce a couple of upcoming Houston gigs: I’ll be playing a saxophone/amplified water duo with Megan Easely at Khon’s, July 7th. Not something you see everyday; in fact, it’s something I’ve never done before. Should be a good time. Robert Pearson will open with a solo set on keyboards. Show starts at 8 pm, $5 cover.

And on July 14th, I’m looking forward to playing at Vinal Edge records with NYC based drummer Joe Hertenstein. We will be playing trio with my new found Houston bass compadre, Victor Hernandez. The show is free! And there will be a keg of beer from 8th wonder brewery! Free show, beer and improvised music, what more could you want?

Look for summer tour dates coming soon.

It’s a busy summer! On June 10th, I went up to Denton to play improvised music with Robert Pearson (keys) and Victor Hernandez (bass). Big thanks to Rick Eye and Rachel King for making it happen. It was great to see my Denton buddies again.

On June 15th, I played with Thomas Helton (bass) and Victor Hernandez at the newly opened Rice Moody Center for the Arts. We performed two sets: one of entirely improvised music, and one that was a 30 minute long, 3 page excerpt of Treatise, the seminal graphic score piece by Cornelius Cardew. We performed on Repeater, a scuplture/installation by Brooklyn based artist David Scanavino. Much thanks to Ian Cion, Allison Weaver, and Joel Thompson at the Moody Center for making it happen.

And last but definitely not least, I have a record coming out on the British label FMR Records! It is entitled After Effects, and features the talents of me, Damon Smith (bass), Alvin Fielder (drums), and Joe Hertenstein (drums). It will be available for purchase/streaming on my bandcamp page soon.

Look for more events coming up soon!

So I started directing the Rice University Big Band this fall. Our first concert of the year will be on November 2nd, 6:30 pm at the RMC Grand Hall on Rice University campus. We’ll be playing arrangements from the Count Basie library, as well as arrangements of songs by Oliver Nelson, Rodgers/Hart, and Nat King Cole. Come on out!

My band Etched In The Eye has just released a new record. The personnel of the group is me on alto and baritone saxes, Robert Pearson on keyboards, and Sandy Ewen on guitar. This group is a bit hard to categorize, as it is all improvised but does not fall into the usual genres of free jazz, improvised music or avant garde. However, I’m very proud of this record, and its blistering intensity. You can listen to it at this link:https://sandyewen.bandcamp.com/album/etched-in-the-eye

I’m happy to announce that I am the new director of the Rice University big band. I’ll be taking the position over from one of my former teachers, the great Larry Slezak. We will be playing music from big bands such as Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Rob McConnell, and more. We have 4 concerts during the school year, and the first one will be on November 2nd.

I’m excited to say that I’m playing a touring Broadway Musical, A Night With Janis Joplin, at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX. The show is basically a retrospective of Janis Joplin’s life, and features some of her most popular songs such as “Ball and Chain” and “Piece of my Heart”. It runs from from August 21nd to September 18th. Come on out, it’s going to be a great show!