Lebanon High School graduate and Grammy-nominated guitarist and producer Danny Abel will perform at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
Abel, 42, told the Valley News that the show will feature a stylistic blend of jazz, funk and soul, featuring his original songs and instrumentals incorporating the New Orleans musical influence that has shaped his work.
“All of the songs have a lot of open space for improvisation,” he said.
According to his website, Abel is a New Orleans-based guitarist and bandleader who co-leads BrasiNola, a Brazilian samba-and-funk band, and the GuitArmy, a collective of New Orleans guitarists that perform around the world.
Abel also owns Brown Hound Sounds, a music production company that scores for TV, film and commercials.
Abel graduated from Lebanon High School in 2001 after moving to the area, then relocated to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, he told the Valley News. He later transferred to the University of New Orleans, where his final semester was cut short by Hurricane Katrina. He was able to finish his studies and received his degree in jazz performance at Dartmouth College in 2005 after the college opened its doors to students who were displaced by the hurricane, he said.
In 2019, Abel earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist for his work with the R&B group Tank and the Bangas on the album “Red Balloon,” and he toured the world with the band for six years.
“I had some really cool experiences playing with them, and I’m still really close with a lot of them,” he said.
This will be Abel’s third time performing at the Sawtooth Kitchen, most recently in June. Abel said the idea came when he visited his parents and wanted to connect with local musicians.
Abel will be joined by Nate Edgar on bass, Gabe Jarrett on drums and Van Garrison on keyboards.