“Herbie Hancock won’t be following up on Sunlight? Daft Punk will never reunite? Prince is dead? Snarky Puppy was better before? Don’t worry, Sylvain Daniel, aka SlyDee, will make you forget all that with his new album, a minor miracle of creativity if ever there was one.”
CHOC DU MOIS JAZZ MAGAZINE
SlyDee is a revelation from Sylvain Daniel, a bassist who is as highly regarded by Thomas de Pourquery, Laurent Bardainne, Julien Lourau, and Yom as he is by Jeanne Adde, Camélia Jordana, Jain, and Kren Ann: The great black music of Prince, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Chic, Sly & the Family Stone… an immoderate taste for the instrumental hip-hop of Slum Village (J-Dilla), the acid post-punk synthesizers of Talking Heads & Joy Division, and the electric, libertarian jazz of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis.
– NEWS –
SLYDEE releases new album on Kyudo Records
2025: New album in progress in Ecouen (95)
SlyDee, the new project from bassist and producer Sylvain Daniel, draws on his deepest influences.
As an instrumentalist, Sylvain is an indispensable figure in the modern jazz scene. He is known as the bassist for Thomas de Pourquery, Laurent Bardainne & Tigre d’Eau Douce, and Julien Lourau; and he participated in Yom’s electric experiments. He is also a valuable ingredient in pop production: his bass lines can be heard on albums by Jeanne Added Air & By Your Side, Jain The Roof, Redcar Les adorables étoiles, and he is the musical director for Camélia Jordana’s Facile x Fragile tour.
As a composer and leader, Sylvain Daniel already distinguished himself with Palimpseste in 2018. This Detroit-based project garnered critical acclaim (Choc Jazz Magazine and ffff Télérama, Album of the Year); in it, he proclaimed his love for the music of the Motor City, from jazz to house, soul, and hip-hop, extolling the beauty and urgency of the arts and creativity in a declining industrial world. In 2020, he released Pauca Meae (Choc Jazz Magazine, ffff Télérama): a composition for an actor, an electric quartet, and a string quartet setting Book IV of Victor Hugo’s Contemplations to music. This precious, hyper-produced discographical UFO combines the electric energy of Miles Davis, the saturated melancholy of Nirvana, and the inspired classical writing of Gabriel Fauré.
It is now as a producer that Sylvain distinguishes himself with his third album. SlyDee is a musical stripping bare in which he unabashedly invokes his founding pillars: the great black music of Prince, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Chic, Sly & the Family Stone, an immoderate taste for instrumental hip-hop from Slum Village & J-Dilla, the tangy post-punk synthesizers of Talking Heads & Joy Division, and the electric, libertarian jazz of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis.
A delightful cocktail that gives pride of place to groove and a collective sound, also offering immense scope for this new group made up of musicians renowned for their improvisational talents.
It is around this very specific musical universe that Sylvain Daniel has assembled his own dream team. Longtime companions like Vincent Taeger on drums (Tiger Tigre, Poni Hoax, Le Sacre du Tympan, Tony Allen, Sébastien Tellier, Oxmo Puccino) and Arnaud Roulin on synthesizers (Tigre d’Eau Douce, Supersonic, Poni Hoax) join SlyDee. New collaborations are born with Bruno Ruder on piano and Fender Rhodes (Yes is a pleasant country, duo w/ Jeanne Added…) and the avant-garde trumpeter Aymeric Avice (Pomme de Terre, Jean-Louis).
Behind his second-rate graffiti artist name—SlyDee—lie compositions that completely blow away the competition. SlyDee is the foie gras of music, something reserved for connoisseurs. Fred Pallem recently said on social media that others could always go back to listening to Vulfpeck. And frankly, I have little to add: let them fight it out with their chicken breast.
A giant fiesta bringing together Prince, Miles Davis, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, George Clinton, Gainsbourg, and Moroder... And the result is absolutely delightful! A pleasure to listen to because it's a pleasure to play.
Herbie Hancock won't be following up on “Sunlight”? Daft Punk will never reunite? Prince is dead? Snarky Puppy was better before? Don't worry, Sylvain Daniel, aka SlyDee, will make you forget all that with his new album, a minor miracle of creativity if ever there was one.
– LINE-UP –
Sylvain Daniel (bass)
Vincent Taeger (drum)
Aymeric Avice (trumpet)
Arno Roulin (keyboards)
Bruno Ruder (Piano et Fender Rhodes)
ON TOUR
Soon on tour