about Damien
Born in Berkeley, Ca. in 1970, conceived in the era of the “Summer of Love”, Damien was dubbed the “Cosmic Baby” at an early age. This was due to the amount of shuffling between relatives, communes, foster homes, friends and hitch-hikers, and the fact he always made it back to his mothers’ arms. After losing his mother at age five, he lived with his father and step-mother until the age of ten, when he then chose to enter the Alameda County foster care system, living in foster and group homes until his eventual emancipation. Through a total of 22 different homes, 4 junior high schools and 5 high schools, at times the future seemed pretty dim. Having started using drugs and alcohol at the age of twelve, few opportunities came through to get back on track.
At the age of 14, he started playing harmonica, inspired by Blues masters Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Sonny Terry, to name a few. At the age of 16 he received as a gift an alto saxophone, and applied the theory learned through sax lessons to another recent gift, the chromatic harmonica. At 15, he was introduced to Altaneze Taylor, the founder of Bright Moments Music Lovers’ Club. Through her organization, he met and studied with professional musicians and learned about Jazz history and culture.
At age 18, Damien graduated from Thunder Road drug treatment center, and was emancipated from being a ward of the court. Having dropped out of high school, it was time to go back for an education. Laney College would be that return, studying with Elvo D’amante, Ed Kelley and Jay Lehman. After two years, he transferred to Cal State Hayward, leaving directly for an exchange program (”Intercambio”) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he lived and studied and played for two years.
Upon returning from Brazil, he was soon playing with the Bay Area’s best Brazilian & Jazz musicians, playing the Bay Area’s top clubs. All of this led to his debut 1996 release, “Intercambio”, inspired by his overseas adventures.
In 1997, after nine consecutive visits to Havana, Cuba, he produced “Cubacambio”, taking his passion for world music, Jazz and Pop and melding them into one vision. This is one of the first recordings that uses chromatic harmonica in an authentic Cuban setting.
In following years, Damien expanded his performance and recording into many genres, mixing jazz, rock, pop and world music styles, searching for an elusive “sound” to express the music he heard growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 70’s and 80’s. That exploration can be heard in his various recordings on his own albums, (see “Blue World Order” and “Scrapbook”) and the recordings of other artists (Google “Damien Masterson”).
In 2009, Damien released “All over the Map”, his first major release since “Cubacambio”, and one of his finest albums to date. The album showcases Damien’s compositional and arranging talents, as well his trademark harmonica and saxophone chops. A collaborative effort with Bassist/Producer/Engineer Jon Evans of San Pablo Recorders, This is a “must have” in your collection!
For the last 10 years, Damien has been searching for lost rhythms and atypical ways to syncopate his compositions. That exploration took him all over the world, but it was his discovery of certain styles of African music, especially Senegalese Mbalax, that has captured his heart and soul. In 2009 - 2010, Damien has traveled to Africa 4 times, for over 4 months, to study, perform and record in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa. He is currently building a studio in Dakar, to allow lower income artists make recordings and demos.
Links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damienmasterson/sets/
Damien Masterson http://www.damienmasterson.com
or enter my name in any search engine
http://www.myspace.com/damienmastersonmusic
http://cdbaby.com/all/damienzm
415 305 7138 dzm@damienmasterson.com
http://www.jazzschool.com/html/classes_harmonica.html
Damien Endorses Hohner Harmonicas and Audix Microphones