“The future of UK jazz, then, looks bright; this was the sound of tomorrow, today” – Evening Standard

Daniel Casimir attended the Birmingham Conservatoire Jazz Course between 2008-2012 and began studying the double bass under the tuition of Mark Hodgson and Arnie Somogyi. During his time at Birmingham Conservatoire, Daniel was also taught by legendary bassist Dave Holland and received several performance opportunities, such as to perform in the Trondheim jazz festival and participating in a project with Saxophonist Chris Potter. Jon Turney describes Daniel’s performance: “Outstanding for me, though, was Dan Casimir on bass. He did everything a bass player should, cruising with the orchestra, responding creatively to the soloists, duetting impressively with Potter on one number.” Daniel left Birmingham in 2012 with a first for his final performance.

Daniel decided to further his skills as an improviser and composer by completing a Masters at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, supported by scholarships from the Savile Club and Help Musicians. Whilst at Trinity Laban Conservatoire he participated in public Conservatoire events such as a performance in Ronnie’s Scott and at the Southbank Centre as part of the London Jazz festival.

Since finishing the formal aspect of his musical training, Daniel has had the opportunity to perform with the following artists; Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Benet Mclean, Lonnie Liston Smith, Nathan Facey, Shane Forbes, Chihiro Yamanaka, Ashley Henry and David Lyttle. Daniel also performs regularly and has recorded with the Clark Tracey Quintet (Meantime, Jubilation), Tom Harrison (Unfolding in Tempo), Jasmine Power (Stories and Rhymes) and Camilla George (Isang). Daniel will record with an Art Blakey Jazz messenger Saxophonist Jean Toussaint in 2017.

Daniel is the winner of The Musicians’ Company’s Young Jazz Musician Award 2016. In 2017 Daniel released his first recording as a Bandleader, Escapee. Escapee was released under the Jazz Re:freshed. Following the success of ‘Escapee’, award winning bassist Daniel Casimir and vocalist/co-writer Tess Hirst return for their debut LP – ‘These Days’.

This time, inspired by their surroundings, the West London pair document charged observations delivered via thought provoking lyricism, neo soul and modern jazz. Across twelve tracks, Casimir and Hirst fuse traditional jazz sounds into beautifully composed compositions, narrating their way through a political and cultural landscape. The frenzied, groove-heavy ‘Security’ addresses the essential need to trust one another and how we protect ourselves personally, while the slow burning, rich atmospherics of ‘Freedom’ combined with Hirst’s silky vocals, explore liberation and the rejection of duty – from a female perspective.