Bio - DANIELLE WERTZ

“A masterful ballad interpreter” (NYC Jazz Record) and semi-finalist in the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition, Danielle Wertz is an award-winning artist on the rise. The New York City-based singer, composer and arranger weaves together elements of jazz, folk, and wordless vocal textures to create an intimate and personal musical world. Described as, "untarnished by the politics of music" (Jazz Music Archives) and "at home alongside more contemporary exponents of improvised singing […] drawing comparisons with innovators like Gian Slater, Norma Winstone, Sara Serpa and Theo Bleckmann" (LoudMouth, AU) Danielle has gained international acclaim.

Danielle independently released her debut album, Intertwined, in 2017 which ranked #4 on Capital Bop's list of "Best DC Jazz Albums of 2017" and has continued to receive high praise. Later that year, Danielle was a finalist in both the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition, further solidifying her reputation as a rising star in the jazz vocal community.

After making a cross-country move to California, Danielle quickly became an integral and sought-after musical collaborator and educator in the Bay Area. She has performed at SFJAZZ, Black Cat, Throckmorton Theatre, Art Boutiki, and the West Oakland Sessions Creative Music Series as both a leader and a collaborator. She was featured on seven albums created by California-based musicians including ReBirth - Javier Santiago (2020), Unknown Dameron: Rare and Never Recorded Works of Tadd Dameron - Paul Combs/Summit Records (2019), Spectrum - Aaron Janik (2021), and The Crazy Dog - Raffi Garabedian (2024). She was also commissioned by the East Bay Music Company to compose a piece for quintet, and awarded a spot in the 2019 Zoo Labs Artist Accelerator Residency.

As an educator, Danielle taught workshops and masterclasses at the Berkeley Jazzschool, joined the California Jazz Conservatory faculty teaching private voice, and joined the Sonoma State University faculty as an adjunct voice professor in the classical department. Here, she was specifically hired to bridge the gap and offer support for classical voice majors who were interested in collaborating with the instrumental jazz department.

During the pandemic Danielle completed all three levels of training at the Online LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™, and continued her Somatic Voicework™ education taking courses including “Working with Trans and Non-Binary Voices” and “Working with Jazz Singers, Professional Belters, Kids & Teens and Crossover Artists.” Danielle subsequently continued her own personal vocal and artistic development studies with Somatic Voicework™ instructors, Kate McGarry and Theo Bleckmann.

In 2022, months after moving to NYC, Danielle was hired by Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA) to co-create and co-star in a theatrical concert about the lives and music of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. DC Theatre Arts called her performance “enchanting and reverent” and Broadway world called the show “intimate, sophisticated, and remarkably enlightening […] with a spiritual sense that was most welcome in these troubled times." The show has continued to play at the Avalon Theatre (Easton, MD) and Dominion Energy Center (Richmond, VA), with The Birchmere (DC), GableStage (Miami, FL), The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI) and others being presented in 2024.

In March 2023 Danielle released her sophomore album, Other Side, via Outside in Music. With this project she made a quantum leap as a composer and conceptualist. Reimagined and rewritten during the pandemic, the album pairs her compositions with carefully crafted arrangements of standards from the Great American Songbook. Jazziz called the album “expressive and polished” and Jazz Weekly noticed a “Joni Mitchell’d tenderness to her material.” Danielle was awarded a 2023 Jazz Road Tours grant from South Arts and self-produced a national album release tour spanning three months including venues such as Blues Alley Jazz in DC, Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia, Sam First in Los Angeles and Sharp Nine Gallery in North Carolina.

In 2024 Danielle continues to be an avid collaborator as a new member of the NYC jazz scene. She is featured on Remy LeBoeuf’s forthcoming album, Heartland Radio, has performed at The Jazz Gallery, Soapbox Gallery and Room 623, and just returned from California with her newest collaborator, Tal Yahalom, where they toured down the coast including two sold-out shows at SFJAZZ in San Francisco. Danielle is looking forward to her first European tour in 2025!