Here comes a body, a body with limbs.
Here comes a body, a body with a chin.
Here comes a life that, no one has known.
Here comes a body, a body, a soul!
Here comes a body. 
A precious body and a soul. 
A precious soul. Why haven’t you seen it?
I’m all for you, I’m all for you body and soul.
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

Here Comes A Body [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

This is somebody else’s piano.  I can feel it when I sit.
This is somebody else’s piano.  I can only play with it.
This is somebody else’s clothing, if it lasts me long enough.
This is somebody else’s clothing.  Weird how I got so attached to my stuff.
These are somebody else’s children, even though they came from me.
These are somebody else’s children, I can only set them free.
Like this!!  Do do doot do!
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

This Is Somebody Else's Piano [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

Beauty, indestructible beauty.
Oh, I am.  You are.
I am a poor boy, I have nothing of my own.
Save this ticket, that’s bound to take me home.
Now, if you see me goin’ down a crooked road. 
You better see me here, you better make me known.
Come on and see me here, come on and make me known.
I wanna be known for my beauty, indestructible beauty.
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

Beauty Indestructible [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

Lonely trips down stairs and Lonely falls and dies and Lonely doesn’t question.  It was no surprise.  But, what if he were sitting, dreaming, underneath the forest’s virgin tree?
Angry has no heartache.  Angry has no fears.  Angry hasn’t answered one phone call in years.  But, what if she were sitting, dreaming, underneath the forest’s virgin tree?
Angels leave their dust and sometimes no one cheers.  Darky damped their eyes and sorrow shut their ears.  But, what if we were sitting, dreaming, underneath the forest’s virgin tree?
Would I still be me?  Would I recognize me?
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

The Forest's Virgin Tree

He loves me well.
All I will say, is “He loves me well.  Fortune or pain, He loves me well.”
Yes, He loves me well.  Though I have suffered I come now again.  He loves me well.
Though I have suffered, though I have pain, He loves me well.  Oh whoa! I come now again, I come again!
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

He Loves Me Well [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

Sing, I am waiting for you to sing.
Can you catch a breath now and sing?
Can you feel my heart beat when you sing?
Can you feel me here?
Sing over sorrow and sing over pain.
Sing your regrets until they’re light again.
Sing over death, ‘til we’re live again.
Sing over worry and sing over fear.
Sing when you’re close and when you’re no where near.
Oh, oh, oh.
Sing over death, sing ‘til you’re good and live again.
Tell me a story when you sing, tell me all about it.
Tell me ‘bout the time when you grew wings.
And don’t rush your song, don’t rush your song ‘cause I think, you’re right where you belong.
Won’t you tell me all about it?  Won’t tell me, oh? All about the time when you grew wings?  Ah!  When you sing.  When you sing.
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

Sing [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

You say to the dark, you are tired of these things you’ve had to bear.
And now you want to go where no one’s ever lost.
Comes a power, calls my name.
Comes a power, and I am changed.
There’s no need to comprehend,
What I’m feelin’ now is over my head.
I say to the dark, “I am tired of these things I’ve had to bear.  And now I want to go where no one’s ever lost.”
Comes a power, soft as night,
To release me from all my fight.
There’s no need to educate, 
‘Cause it’s speaking life all over this place.
Up here it feels like I’m falling and like I’m already caught.
And suddenly I realize, I have never, ever been lost.
I have been right here. All this time.  I’ve been right here, oh, right here.  
Words & Music © 2013 Ashley Daneman

Where No One's Ever Lost [From "Beauty Indestructible"]

Inspired by my friend who lost his young son in a car accident at the beginning of December.  Download for free by clicking the down-arrow icon, between November 10, 2014 and January 20th, 2015 in celebration of The Beauty Indestructible Project.

Silent Night (what I wouldn't give for a...)Ashley Daneman

Recall

Single release, commissioned by Spark and Echo Arts.  All instruments performed and recorded by myself.  

I've Got All The Light I Need (thank you very much)

DownBeat Magazine selected Ashley Daneman’s self-produced, fan-funded debut, Beauty Indestructible as Editors’ Pick (January 2015) and printed a full-page interview with her in their March edition. A huge response for a little-known singer releasing an independent debut at age 37, but critics would agree it was worth the wait. “Daneman is an assured singer who has clearly found her sound,” says Peter Bacon (The Jazz Breakfast) and All About Jazz calls it, “the triumphant debut of a seriously talented singer and songwriter.”

Born and raised in Toledo, OH, Daneman performed in musicals and later studied Opera at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before finishing in Psychology and turning to study jazz on her own. In 2003, USA Today noted her as “a fine young jazz vocalist” and her unique voice as a composer earned her a spot in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead as a resident artist.

What followed then was a complicated series of personal events, leaving Daneman’s career on the back burner as she returned to a “desk job.”  Several years later, renewed efforts to pursue her dream landed her at Manhattan School of Music studying under Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, and Theo Bleckman. Successfully completing her masters degree as a scholarship student, in 2010, Daneman was chosen again for her artistry into The Banff Centre’s Jazz and Creative Workshop as a resident artist.

A late career start and plenty of interesting life turns have caused Daneman to go deep with her blend of jazz and modern folk debuting “a publicly intimate recording that is frank and unapologetic. Beauty Indestructible is a collection of nine original "spirit poems" scored and written by Daneman, existing as an intensely personal song cycle. Daneman addresses the fundamental healing power of love” (C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz).

Drawing comparisons to Becca Stevens, Laura Nyro, and even Stephen Sondheim, Beauty Indestructible is summed up as “beautiful jazz art music from a gorgeous voice with superb accompaniment” (Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange) and as “a profound work of art that is so alive, so positive, and so blessedly musical” (Richard Kamins, Step Tempest). “Charming and enchanting with its offbeat/outside the lines sensibilities, [Beauty Indestructible] is killer stuff that’s sure to resonate with the gypsy in your soul” (Chris Spector, Midwest Record).

Ashley and her husband, trumpeter Benje Daneman, are based out of Kalamazoo, MI.

Ashley Daneman

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