I teach, write, and compose music and play the trumpet and other instruments in Chicago. In 2006 my trio -- Ways & Means -- released its debut CD, entitled “Fire of Dreamâ€; this recording features a collaboration with poet Ed Roberson. From 2005 till 2006 The Ways & Means Trio hosted a monthly series at Muse Café called Lower & Upper Limits, which showcased collaborations between poets and musicians. Dan has worked with Jim Ryan, Daniele Cavallanti, Tiziano Tononi, Joel Wanek, Jayve Montgomery, Eric Glick Rieman, Guillermo Gregorio, Tom Abbs, Jerome Bryerton, Mankwe Ndosi, David Boykin, Douglas Ewart, Paul Hartsaw, Mars Williams, Steve Cohn, Nicole Mitchell, Briggan Krauss, Alex Wing, Ben Boye, Bill MacKay, Joshua Manchester, Federico Ughi, Clifton Hyde, and other musicians.
Ways & Means Trio is Joel Wanek (upright bass), Jayve Montgomery (woodwind instruments, electronics, percussion), and me (trumpet & percussion). Ways & Means Trio's debut recording is "Fire of Dream." You can find out more about this recording at http://cdbaby.com/cd/waysmeanstrio. Audio of two in-studio performances at WNUR can be accessed at http://www.wnur.org/jazzshow/special/.
In November of last year several friends and I started a new performance venue in Chicago called Brown Rice. There are five people involved with Brown Rice -- Renee Baker, Ben Gray, Joel Wanek, Jayve Montgomery, and me. We've been booking shows at Brown Rice since the beginning of Februrary 2008. www.brownricemusic.org
I work with the Borderbend Arts Collective to make the annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival happen. Chicago Calling provides opportunities for Chicago based artists to collaborate with artists living in other locations around the world. www.chicagocalling.org
My poetry and fiction have appeared in Chase Park, Versal, Drunken Boat, 580 Split, Kyoto Journal, Eratica, California Quarterly, after hours, and other print publications and online journals, and my nonfiction has appeared in print and websites such as Teaching Artist Journal, Afropop Worldwide, and The Jazz Institute of Chicago Newsletter. My poem “Mask to Skin to Blood to Heart to Bone and Back†was nominated by the editors of 580 Split for the Pushcart Prize.
I have a website domain at www.danielgodston.com, but that's in the works.
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