Sacks and Company Karl Denson exhibits
his saxophone chops onstage.
By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Reporter
Wandering the streets of New York City and speaking from his
cell phone, Karl Denson was happy to give a little insight into his
not so Tiny Universe. Though the name echoes insignificance, the
huge sounds of Denson’s jazz/soul/funk fusion burst out of
this solar system.
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, a celebrated member of the
jam band scene, will be headlining this year’s Sno-Core Ball.
The tour commences this Friday with a performance at the Wiltern
theater. With support from fellow musicians Spearhead, Ozomatli,
Nikka Costa, Blackalicious, and Saul Williams, throughout the tour,
Denson is excited to be expanding his musical horizons.
“It’s people from the same thing that I’ve
been in, you know, the jam band scene, but it’s a little more
urban, so I’m kind of digging that,” Denson said.
“It’s a pretty hot tour for me.”
After touring with bands such as Widespread Panic, String Cheese
Incident and Ratdog, all renowned jam bands, it will be a welcome
change of pace to perform for some different fans that would not
necessarily attend a Tiny Universe show. The Sno-Core Ball promises
to be a larger event than his Tiny Universe is used to.
It would be hasty to say, however, that Denson hasn’t seen
a fair amount of action while touring in the past. He started his
professional music career playing back up for Lenny Kravitz. With
solos on “Let Love Rule” and “Mama Said,”
he broke into the scene of talented musicians with his soulful
stylings on the saxophone. After an almost five year stint with his
own groove creation, The Greyboy Allstars, Denson decided to go in
a new direction with his sound and start over with Tiny
Universe.
“It was time to branch out,” Denson said. “I
started calling people and writing material. We booked a tour
before we even had band.”
The name Tiny Universe by no means denotes a narrow approach to
the music. In addition to Denson’s tenor sax, alto sax and
flute, there are the standard electric bass and guitar and drummer,
plus an auxiliary percussionist and a keyboardist. The crowded
stage, however, does not denote a crowded sound. It is intended to
allow an expansive sound with the instruments supplementing each
other amidst the many solos. The name represents what Denson calls
the micro-macro illusion, which he described as all of the
different styles from which their music draws.
All musicians will readily spit out a list of high-profile
influences, however, Denson recognizes the banality of this. He
doesn’t try to impress by name dropping or hyping his own
band.
“I think we’re probably as eclectic as any band out
there,” Denson humbly stated. “We try to look at it
from that standpoint of not restricting ourselves to a style of
music.”
He describes the sound Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe is
going for as black history. He tries to include everything in the
history of African music from its earliest roots until today
““ he includes sounds of afro beats, rock, hip hop, and
funk.
Denson pulls inspiration for his songs from anything that can
evoke emotions. He often writes in response to other music
he’s heard, or even a good movie he has seen, which leaves
him striving to emulate the specific feelings.
The future of Tiny Universe lies in the expansion of the use of
vocals. Denson recognizes that most participants in the jam, funk
and acid jazz scenes are mostly instrumental. He is trying to
stretch his talents and push for more vocals to help them stand
out. All in all, he is happy to be playing and writing music that
he loves. Other than that, he is staying focused on taking
advantage of the exposure that will come with the kick-off of the
Sno-Core Ball later this month.
“We’re just trying to sound focused,” Denson
said. “The main thing is trying to make every tune sound like
it has its own purpose.”