Anna Danes

Last updated
Anna Danes
Anna Danes 2015.jpg
Danes Performing in 2015
Born
Olga Anna Dmochowska

(1969-07-04) July 4, 1969 (age 54)
Gdańsk, Poland
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • speaker
  • writer
  • producer
  • attorney
Years active2011–present
Children1
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
LabelsDLG Recordings
Website annadanes.com

Anna Danes (born July 4, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, speaker, writer and music event producer. Find Your Wings , her second album, a collection of jazz standards and original songs was released in 2016, and peaked at #22 on the jazz music Billboard charts [1] and debuted on the iTunes jazz charts at number one. [2]

Contents

Early life

Danes grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Sopot (needs a wiki link), Poland, near the Baltic coast town of Gdansk. Her love for music started when she was a young girl, listening to bootleg cassette tapes of Western pop music and attending the summer music festival in Sopot where she was mesmerized by the sparkly stage costumes and sounds of the times: disco and European pop music, with major influences coming from ABBA, Demis Roussos, Shirley Bassey and Boney M.  In 1979, at 10 years old, Danes and her parents escaped (then-communist) Poland to Sweden. They later immigrated to Ottawa, Canada. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Ottawa in ancient history and archaeology and graduated from the University of Windsor with a law degree and became a practicing attorney in Toronto, Canada.

In 2000, Anna moved to San Diego, California, got married and had a daughter. In 2011, at the age of 42, Anna took her daughter to a singing lesson, but when the then 8 year-old refused to continue, Anna stepped in and suddenly discovered her talent and love for singing, starting a new chapter of her life.

Despite growing up in stark times in communist Poland, music always offered Anna joy and a sense of wonder. Today, Anna believes “even when the world is a complex and challenging place, we have music. And music connects us back to childlike happiness, fun, and pure joy. It's that simple.”

Music career

Danes with Hosts of Good Morning LA LA Land, 2019 Danes with Hosts of Good Morning LA LA Land.jpg
Danes with Hosts of Good Morning LA LA Land, 2019

Danes' 2nd album, Find Your Wings (Album) , released in 2016, debuted on iTunes jazz albums at #1 and peaked at #22 on the Billboard Charts. Danes’ debut album, Longing, was released in 2014 and received positive reviews from the jazz press and others.

She has performed The Star-Spangled Banner multiple times at events such as opening day at Del Mar Futurity, an American Thoroughbred horse race held at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California for an audience of 45,000 and at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion for an audience of 14,000. [3]

Danes has been featured on The Today Show, [4] KSBW-TV, and Good Morning Lalaland [5] and her music has received glowing/positive reviews in Broadway World, Jazzed Magazine, and The Jazz World [6] as well as KSDS Jazz 88.3 and many other media outlets.

In a feature article in the Huffington Post , Danes shares her experiences in pursuing a music career as a former Stay at Home Mom: "In many ways, you need LESS to succeed than you think! #1 is perseverance. Most other things can be learned and acquired. But if there is a WILL, you will find a way — just stay with it! I THOUGHT I needed all this “stuff” and a team of people to be noticed in show business." [7]

Writer and speaker

Danes is a two-time breast cancer survivor. In her blog post, “Cancer Part 1: Vanity Saved My Life,”  she shares how she was diagnosed with breast cancer after an elective breast lift procedure revealed cancer cells in the removed breast tissue. "I am making my story public in order to demystify the disease more and to potentially help others. I am one of the lucky ones: my cancer was caught early." [8] [9]

In her TEDx talk, Find Your Wings, (presented in Solana Beach, California on August 25, 2018 [10] ) she shares a message of facing your fears—in ANY challenge.

Danes creates talks that include music where she shares stories and experiences from her own life ranging from escaping (then-communist) Poland and immigrating to Sweden, getting past the fear of a cancer diagnosis, leaving a long-term marriage into the unknown, listening to your body, and the power of positive thinking.

Danes has been a featured guest on podcasts such as the LOTL Radio Podcast The Zone. [11]

Acting career

Danes plays the role of Liriope in the 2018 film, Fatal Perfection which won an Honorable Mention for Screenplay Short at the LA Film Awards in September, 2018. [12] In 2017, Danes was a featured storyteller on Radio Theatre For Your Soul, sharing the inspiration behind her songwriting, which was later released as a docu-story in 2021. [13]

In 2022, Danes was featured in the 7 time award-winning documentary, Finding Inner Hero [14] which examines how individuals use tragic turns to self-reflect, and to refocus towards living more joyful, authentic, meaningful lives.

Music event producer

Danes' music event production company, Anna Danes Presents, has produced private, charity, and corporate events for clients such as The San Diego Symphony, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Neiman Marcus, and has created the concert series, Jazz on Cedros, in San Diego, California. [15] [16]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheryl Crow</span> American musician (born 1962)

Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is noted for her optimistic and idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released twelve studio albums, five compilations, and three live albums, and contributed to several film soundtracks. Her most popular songs include "All I Wanna Do" (1994), "Strong Enough" (1994), "If It Makes You Happy" (1996), "Everyday Is a Winding Road" (1996), "My Favorite Mistake" (1998), "Picture", and "Soak Up the Sun" (2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia Newton-John</span> British and Australian singer and actress (1948–2022)

Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British and Australian singer and actress. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included fifteen top-ten singles, including five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200: If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974) and Have You Never Been Mellow (1975). Eleven of her singles and fourteen of her albums have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Etheridge</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1961)

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1989. Her second album, Brave and Crazy, appeared that same year and earned Etheridge two more Grammy nominations. In 1992, Etheridge released her third album, Never Enough, and its lead single, "Ain't It Heavy", won Etheridge her first Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewel (singer)</span> American musician (born 1974)

Jewel Kilcher, mononymously known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and humanitarian activist. She has been nominated for four Grammy Awards and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Riperton</span> African American singer (1947–1979)

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rita Coolidge</span> American singer (born 1945)

Rita Coolidge is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and then-husband Kris Kristofferson. Her recordings include "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," "We're All Alone", "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love", and the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy: "All Time High".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anastacia</span> American singer (born 1968)

Anastacia Lyn Newkirk is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, Not That Kind (2000) and Freak of Nature (2001), were released in quick succession. Spurred on by her globally successful debut single "I'm Outta Love", Anastacia was declared the "world's best-selling new female pop artist" at the World Music Awards in 2001. Her commercial success continued with the albums' other singles, such as "Not That Kind", "Paid My Dues" and "One Day In Your Life", as well as the official song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, "Boom".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Price</span> American singer (born 1973)

Kelly Cherelle Price is an American R&B and gospel singer. Beginning her career in 1992, Price originally performed backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including her Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and "Fantasy." She rose to wider prominence in 1997 following her uncredited performances on the number-one single "Mo Money Mo Problems" by the Notorious B.I.G. and the top-five single "Feel So Good" by Mase, prompting her to record as a lead artist. Her debut studio album, Soul of a Woman (1998) received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); its lead single, "Friend of Mine" peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Nielsen Chapman</span> American singer and songwriter

Beth Nielsen Chapman is an American singer and songwriter who has written hits for country and pop music performers. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. Nielsen Chapman is two-time Grammy Award and ACM Award nominee and won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year in 1999 for writing Faith Hill's "This Kiss".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayley Williams</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1988)

Hayley Nichole Williams is an American singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and only constant member of the rock band Paramore, which she co-founded in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherine Anderson</span> Musical artist

Cherine Tanya Anderson is a Jamaican dancehall/reggae vocalist and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kina Grannis</span> American guitarist

Kina Kasuya Grannis is an American guitarist, singer and YouTuber. Grannis was the winner of the 2008 Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest, earning a recording contract with Interscope Records and having her music video played during the commercials of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazmine Sullivan</span> American singer

Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. She has won two Grammy Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Award, and two BET Awards over the course of her career. In 2022, Time placed her on their list of the 100 Most Influential People.

<i>Esperanza</i> (Esperanza Spalding album) 2008 studio album by Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza is the second studio album by American bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding. It was released on May 20, 2008 by Heads Up International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Roppé</span> American singer

Laura Roppé is an American singer-songwriter and author from San Diego, California. Her first album, Girl Like This, was self-released in 2008. Shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed and underwent cancer treatment, and her second album, I'm Still Here, led to her reaching No. 3 on Billboard Magazine's Uncharted Artists list in 2011. Her memoir Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer was released on Amazon.com in Winter of 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margo Rey</span> Mexican singer-songwriter (born 1966)

Margo Rey is a Mexican singer-songwriter whose original stage name was Margo Reymundo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiatus Kaiyote</span> Australian jazz-funk band

Hiatus Kaiyote is an Australian jazz/funk band formed in Melbourne in 2011, made up of singer/guitarist Nai Palm, bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin, and drummer Perrin Moss.

Stephanie Benson, also known as Princess Akua Ohenewaa Asieanem of Kokobin, is a UK-based Ghanaian international singer and performer who is rooted in jazz music. In Ghana, she has been described as the queen of jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nai Palm</span> Australian neo soul musician

Naomi Saalfield, known professionally as Nai Palm, is an Australian musician, best known as the vocalist, guitarist and occasional pianist for the jazz/funk band Hiatus Kaiyote.

<i>Find Your Wings</i> 2016 studio album by Anna Danes

Find Your Wings, the second album by American singer-songwriter Anna Danes, is a collection of jazz standards and original songs. It was released in the US by DLG Recordings in 2016. The album peaked at No. 22 on the jazz chart at Billboard magazine.

References

  1. ↑ "Billboard Jazz Music Charts - Anna Danes - Find Your Wings - #22 peak position - December 3, 2016". Billboard.com.
  2. ↑ "Jazzed Magazine - What's On Your Playlist? Anna Danes". Jazzedmagazine.com.
  3. ↑ Diane Bell (February 13, 2017). "Danes sings the National Anthem at basketball game fundraiser at UCLA to Crowd of 14,000". The San Diego Union Tribune .
  4. ↑ "The Today Show - Jazz Singer Anna Danes Reveals How She Stays Positive and Healthy on Tour - October 10, 2017". Today.com. 10 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Anna Danes on Good Morning America - August 5, 2019". YouTube.
  6. ↑ "Broadway World - Billboard Chart Topping Jazz Vocalist Anna Danes Soars on Find Your Wings - December 18, 2017". Broadwayworld.com.
  7. ↑ "Music Star Anna Danes: "In many ways, you need LESS to succeed than you think! The #1 is perseverance. Most other things can be learned and acquired" - July 19, 2019". Thriveglobal.com.
  8. ↑ "San Diego Reader - Anna Danes". Sandiegoreader.com.
  9. ↑ "The Jazz World - "Wings" of courage: Jazz singer Anna Danes meets her first National Breast Cancer Awareness Month as a survivor - October 29, 2016". Thejazzworld.com. 29 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Tedx Solana Beach - Ted Talk - Anna Danes - Find Your Wings - August 25, 2018". Ted.com.
  11. ↑ "LOTL Radio Welcomes Anna Danes - Debuts New Album - Find Your Wings - October 3, 2016". Radiopublic.com.
  12. ↑ "IMDb - Anna Danes". IMDb.com.
  13. ↑ "Radio Theatre For Your Soul - Anna Danes - 2017". IMDB.com.
  14. ↑ Brenneman, Constance; Brenneman, Brad Hammer Constance Elizabeth; Elizabeth, Constance (2022-07-06), Finding Inner Hero (Documentary), Anna Danes, Orange Street Productions, retrieved 2024-06-01
  15. ↑ "KUSI-TV - Jazz on Cedros Preview with Anna Danes - February 13, 2018". Kusi.com. 16 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "Entertalk Radio - The Changing Stage - 06/20/15 Lawyer-Turned-Jazz-Singer Anna Danes". Entertalkradio.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.