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WATER'S EDGE: An afternoon with Dee

Dee Daniels' world-certified singing career has been one what she dubs "magical," which is fitting given she reputedly carries a sound that renders her audience utterly star struck.

Dee Daniels' world-certified singing career has been one what she dubs "magical," which is fitting given she reputedly carries a sound that renders her audience utterly star struck.

With one critic having raved about her owning a fascinating four-octave voice of "hypnotic quality," fans at Evergreen Cultural Centre had best prepare to be mesmerized when Daniels captures the stage Sunday at 2 p.m. for the signature show of the Coquitlam venue's weekend Water's Edge Festival.

Titled Dee Daniels: An Afternoon of Jazz, Blues and Gospel, the performance promises to lift the crowd to exhilarating heights and send it into a bountiful bliss that far transcends the typical music trip.

Daniels, herself, vows to do her best to personally pilot the frolicking flight. "What I do, in my mind, is go out [in the audience], take all the people by the hand and say, 'Let's go on a journey and have some fun,'" Daniels told The Tri-City News. "It's a mental thing to me. If you think you can't do it, it will be hit and miss -- mostly miss."

It's that precise philosophy that finds Daniels unable to find much variation in her three musical stylings, as she gathers jazz, blues and gospel into one grand, mellifluous gala - regardless of crowd size.

She recently performed in Rochester, N.Y., before 2,400 fans, substantially more than the few hundred set to embrace her at the intimate Evergreen venue. "To me, the [stylings] are all the same," said Daniels, who was born in California, later moved to Seattle and now resides in North Vancouver. "It's how they make me feel. If I can't feel it, there's no use in me trying to make somebody else feel it.

"The bottom line is love."

The step-daughter of a Baptist minister, Daniels took to singing in the school choir at age 12 and continued to optimize her vocal cords through university. Only she had other plans for a career upon graduating.

She became an art teacher and remained one until quitting midway through one school year, when she officially caught the permanent music bug after hooking up with a Seattle band for a New Year's party and, later, continuing to perform with it on weekends.

"Music has been in my life since I can remember," said Daniels, a wife of 25 years and mother of a 22-year-old daughter, who owns her own company as a pastry chef. "But I didn't think of it as a possible career. I was into art."

Even when she was approached after that New Year's gig to sing permanently in the band, Daniels recalled saying flatly: "Absolutely not. I've got a real job."

That all changed in a blink when Daniels decided one day she wanted to travel, and music would be the best path to permit her to do so.

Her singing vocation has since taken her to no fewer than 12 African countries, along with those in South America, the United Kingdom and Asia.

"I said I would like to see the world via music and it has actually happened," marvelled Daniels, who'll be accompanied by her trio of pianist Tony Foster, bass player Russ Botten and drummer Joe Poole. "There are still parts I haven't seen but I'm working on that."

• Her next stop is Coquitlam on Sunday. Admission is $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased by calling 604-927-6555.

lpruner@tricitynews.com