“I wasn’t a traditional music student, but I had a lot of music in me.”
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oft-spoken and reflective, Daniel Sumner is a talented, classically trained jazz guitarist, at home at Fort Sumner, his Garden District music studio in Monroe. A Benedetto guitar leans against the wall near his chair. He gestures toward the grand piano that sits in the middle of the studio. “That’s my sailboat,” he chuckles. “Courtesy of Hurricane Katrina.” For Sumner and his family, the route to Monroe, Louisiana was a circuitous one. Originally from Indianapolis, Sumner was introduced to music at an early age. His mother played the guitar, as did his first grade teacher. Distant relatives include J.D. Sumner, a member of Elvis Presley’s band. He developed his musical talent and interests while attending a Jesuit prep school in Indianapolis, playing piano, cello and guitar. He was eventually awarded a music scholarship to Capital University, a small liberal arts college in Columbus, Ohio. While at Capital, Sumner honed his skills under the tutelage of Stan Smith, and fell in love with jazz. During his college years, he toured with different bands around the United States while completing his undergraduate degree. After graduating from Capital University, he received a scholarship to study at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he earned a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies. “The musicians at NEC were the cream of the crop,” Sumner says of New England Conservatory. “It was a wonderful experience, being around fantastic musicians all the time.” Sumner left Boston to go to Europe on his first extended professional tour, playing in Germany, France and England with the pit orchestra for Jesus Christ Superstar. When that job ended, he and his wife moved to New Orleans, where she enrolled as a law student at Tulane University. While in New Orleans, Dan served as the Music Director at Lusher Charter School, running the school’s widely celebrated jazz band. Many of his Lusher jazz band students went on to become professional musicians--among them, Joey Peebles, drummer for Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. “They’re all doing phenomenally well. I’m really proud of them. And I get to play with them from time to time, too.” Of his time in the Big Easy, Dan recalls fondly: “It was a dream situation, really. I would wake up every morning, go to school and work with the most talented young musicians in New Orleans, and then go play gigs at night.” His gigs always varied, which kept his musical life interesting. He was what he describes as a “gun for hire,” lending his talent as a guitarist to different bands and artists as needed. It was in New Orleans that Sumner first began collaborating with Louis Romanos, an immensely talented drummer and composer. In 1996, the duo formed Permagrin, a band with an acid jazz sound, combining jazz, soul and funk. As Permagrin, they wrote and recorded three albums and played extensively throughout New Orleans and in other cities in the U.S., performing at the SXSW music conference, the NOW music festival, and the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco. Permagrin was nominated for a Gambit award and for Best Electronic Band
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in New Orleans in the 2005 Big Easy Awards. The Louis Romanos Quartet, consisting of Romanos on drums, Sumner on guitar, Alex Noppe on trumpet and Luca Lombardi on acoustic bass, was also founded in New Orleans. New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, was the Sumner’s home for 13 years, until that fateful day in August of 2005. When Hurricane Katrina hit, people in New Orleans scattered. The Sumners left with very little other than the clothes on their backs, the kids, the dog and one guitar. They evacuated first to Meridian, Mississippi and then to Bloomington, Indiana where they had family. When they were finally allowed back into their New Orleans neighborhood weeks later, they found total devastation. Their house had taken in 8 feet of water, and they lost everything they owned, including Dan’s restored 27 foot sailboat. With no place to sail near their new home in Indiana, Sumner used the insurance funds to buy a grand piano instead. Dan was offered a position as a teaching assistant at Indiana University, and the family stayed there for four years. He continued recording and playing gigs with other musicians while in Indiana. As part of a classical guitar duo with B.G. McPike, Sumner won 1st prize at the International Classic Guitar Ensemble Festival at the University of Texas at Brownsville. In the fall of 2009, Sumner became a member of the faculty at University of Louisiana Monroe, teaching music education and guitar. In addition to teaching, Sumner continues his association with Louis Romanos, touring the Southeast and Northwest United States, Hawaii and Europe during semester breaks as a member of the Louis Romanos Quartet. LRQ released its debut album, Take Me There, in 2015. Sumner has also been responsible for bringing talented musicians like Romanos and Stan Smith to perform in Monroe.
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eaching, co-writing and producing for young musicians remain rewarding aspects of Sumner’s career. He attributes his own success in part to those teachers who saw potential in him. “When I was a young musician, Stan Smith was one of those people who helped me and had a tremendous influence on my career. I wasn’t a traditional music student, but I had a lot of music in me. Stan saw that, and he took a chance on me.” Of teaching, Sumner says “Music education, from my perspective, is about the individual realizing his or her potential. It’s about helping students figure out who they are through an art form, as opposed to just fitting a peg into a proverbial hole.” When he is not playing, arranging or lecturing, Sumner spends hours in the studio with talented young area artists like Kailey Fox and Hal Mayfield, both wonderful musicians and star students. “My goal for students,” explains Sumner, “is not to turn them into me or even turn them into guitar players, but to help them have positive experiences with music, and to realize their dreams and their potential through music.” Realizing dreams is something that Dan Sumner knows a little something about. He does what he loves, and does it extremely well. As a sponsored Benedetto artist, Sumner plays