Job’s Trials: A Jazz Song Cycle  is an evocative musical dive into an ancient, universal story exploring why bad things happen to good people. Job stands up for his truth and dares to hold God to account. Loomis brings his unique compositional voice and signature soulful bass-playing to the new jazz song cycle form that he developed to bring this story alive. The fullness of the album examines the most perplexing and powerful themes from the story: the ephemeral value of a virtuous life, the injustice of suffering and the righteousness of rebellion.

This record, an ambitious step forward for Loomis from his first two records, reaches into uncharted formal and sonic territory create a novel and thought-provoking artistic experience. The unique ensemble bringing this album to life consists of two outlandishly soulful singers, Song Yi Jeon and Yoon Sun Choi; a visionary guitarist, Jeff Miles; and NYC’s favorite beast on the drums, Jared Schonig. The composer and bassist, Dan Loomis, uses a unique new format based on a classical song cycle recast using the passionate language of jazz and amplified with theatrical narration. Each song presents an essential, thought-provoking theme from the Book of Job, setting music to original text. Stepping in for the role of narrator, linking the events from each song (and going through a transformative experience himself) is the character of Satan, played by Broadway star (leads in Hamilton, Book of Mormon and Passing Strange) Daniel Breaker.

 This ancient story finds an essential new voice through the medium of Black American Music. Job’s journey of embracing his despair until it’s brings comfort or transformation is the familiar arc of a Blues performance. Jazz, with its essential elements of ambiguity and pathos, provides the creative and emotional tools to delve into this difficult story from a modern perspective. Setting the story in this musical vernacular uniquely highlights the revolution inherent in Job’s demand of God. He changed his paradigm by demanding God be held to account a higher sense of justice.

The composition on this album draws on this rich jazz tradition while simultaneously pushing beyond all borders to establish its own artistic landscape and voice. Loomis deploys an array of infectious grooves inspired by modern jazz, rich melodies borrowing from both blues and art song and sonic textures from the most delicately chamber settings to the wildest electronic layerings. Loomis draws on his ensemble’s equal ease in delivering angelic choral textures and the most adventurous improvised flights. The result grabs the listener’s attention and continues to delight and challenge to the very last note. In both form and content this piece is truly unlike anything else in the jazz or classical cannon. 

Revolutions

REVOLUTIONS is an immersive musical/poetic performance that illuminates the spirit of the essential freedom movements in the Americas. Through the lens of music, poetry and art we elevate these inspirational struggles out of the history books and onto the stage. This project further seeks to connect communities with stories of freedom from other cultures.  

 Like so many Americans, I first discovered the story of the Haitian Revolution as an adult. This incredible freedom story of enslaved people of color overthrowing the world’s dominant white colonial power to become a sovereign nation blew my mind. Equally paradigm-shifting was learning the story of Simon Bolívar and his audaciously ambitious quest to liberate and then unite all the Spanish colonies of South America into a new people, a ‘Gran Columbia’. 

 However, what perhaps shocked me more was the fact that, after receiving a perfectly adequate Midwestern American education, I had never encountered this remarkable history that seemed to perfectly exemplify all the purported “American" ideals of freedom, equality and democracy. 

REVOLUTIONS uses a new artistic format to present this material - a sort of improvised, instrumental, poetic documentary. 

The project uses powerful original music drawing on jazz, modern classical and folkloric elements combined with original poetry/narration combined with a Haitian drumming ensemble and original visual artwork  to create a unified performance experience that illuminates these essential revolutions. The performance will present essential ideas, figures and moments from these revolutions in music and then in poetry, accompanied by a visual projection of an original artwork. The goal is to use the artistic medium in its most effective way, not to recount the facts, figures and timelines; but to bring to life the essential ideals and people from the story, and to inspire new perspectives on our current world.

Job’s Trials Duets

This project is a very inspiring and personal project for me. I love working in the open sonic space of duos and trios. Pairing the human voice, the most personal and emotive instrument, with the rooted sound of the upright bass opened up a world of expressive possibilities. Using music from Job’s Trials, in a totally re-imagined framework, I explore this artistic space with some of my favorite vocalists. 

Dan Loomis Quartet

This new formation brings together titans of the jazz community for different generations in an electrifying and soulful ensemble. With this band, I am reconnecting with my love of the power of swing, song and ceremony that was kindled in me coming up playing music in St. Louis. Stay tuned for much more from this group.

Songs for the Mother Tree

What can trees tell us about community, love, intelligence and resilience? The scientific community is undergoing an explosion of discoveries of the powerful connectedness, consciousness and aptitude among trees. Our arboreal neighbors are capable of so much more than we have imagined — and take action in ways completely unlike our own - and often difficult for us to perceive. 

Just as trees communicate with each other in a different way……. maybe we should be talking about them in a different way. This project is an attempt to channel the recent human inspiration from trees into a sonic world - to speak through music and art rather than only through science.