Jean-Pierre Danel

Jean-Pierre Danel, born June 4th 1968, is a French guitarist, record producer, composer and songwriter. He hit the #1 spot in France with his album ''Guitar Connection'' in 2006 which received a platinum disc, went to #1 in the jazz album charts in 2020 with "Côté Jazz", and two of his albums reached the #1 spot on the Back Catalogue charts, among other hits. He is the instrumental guitarist with the biggest sales in France ever. Danel has recorded a large number of guitar albums, as well as some guitar teaching materials. He is also known as a producer, having obtained many international hits for other artists, with global sales of more than 23.5 million copies. He received a multi-diamond disc in 2014 at Sony Music Headquarters in Paris for 25 years in show business and has received 201 gold and platinum discs. He is also the author of 20 books. The 80's and 90's Born in La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire, France, Jean-Pierre Danel, the son of the French pop singer Pascal Danel and the nephew of opera and movie director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, discovers the guitar at the age of 10, while listening to an album by British legendary band The Shadows. Self-taught guitarist who doesn't read music, Danel started his career as a professional guitarist in July 1982, at the age of 14, while still attending school and, later, university. After many tours and studio recordings with top French session musicians, and a single in the airplay charts in 1989, he released various guitar albums, earning 9 gold discs in Europe during the 90's and several hit albums in France. 2000's ''Stratospheric'' is released in 2000 in 34 countries. Although not a smash commercial success in any country (it will only reach #46 in France), the album sells on the long term and is seen many years later as a classic. It finally gets a gold disc for its international sales. In 2001, Danel is invited on the album ''Les Masters de la Guitare - Les Plus Grands Guitaristes du Monde'', on which Eric Clapton, BB King, Carlos Santana or Al Di Meola also recorded. Several albums follow. ''Guitar Connection'' (2006) His album ''Guitar Connection'', released by Sony/BMG in July 2006 with TV advertising, reaches the #1 spot in the album charts in France and gets gold and platinum discs. ''Guitar Connection 2'' is released in March 2007. It contains a duet with British guitar legend Hank Marvin. The album hits the charts at #8 and several hit albums follow. In June 2007, Danel received the "Grand Prix Français de la Guitare" award, and ''Guitar Connection 3'' is a Top 20 hit in 2008, while ''Guitar Connection - Tribute to The Shadows'' reaches #6 in 2009. ''The Best of Guitar Connection'' hits the digital charts at #2 (and the Top 30 global album charts, at #23), ''Guitar Connection Anthology'' hits the Top 20 and ''Jean-Pierre Danel plays The Shadows'' the Top 40. 14 singles hit the charts within' 4 years and a half, including three Top 10 : ''My Song of You'' (with Laurent Voulzy, #7), ''NZ Girl Blues'' (#5) and ''The Pink Side of Miss Daisy'' (#9). ''Out of the Blues'' (2010) In November 2010, his charitable ''Out of the Blues'' guitar album to the benefit of AIDS research, is released by Universal. Danel records duets with 24 guitar greats such as Hank Marvin again, Albert Lee (recorded at the Abbey Road Studio 2, made famous by The Beatles), Scott Henderson, Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, Jake Shimabukuro and various popular French artists. The album gets to #3 in the French charts and generates several hit singles as well as a string of Top 10 hits on iTunes, including a No. 1 hit single in Belgium, and a long-running Top 5 hit in France with Axel Bauer, staying in the blues charts for more than five years. 8 singles in all hit the iTunes charts in several countries, such as the USA, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico, Denmark, Austria, Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Luxemburg, Belgium, etc. The album gets support from various people, such as Carla Bruni, then First Lady of France, or Brian May of Queen, who also writes a note in the booklet. The pair will later be reunited in London for a charity organized by Danel in 2013. The compilations ''When the Guitar Rocks'' and ''Guitar, Guitar, Guitar'' hit the charts at #9 and #14 in the following years. ''The Hit List'' (2013) His digital compilation (on downloading exclusively) ''The Hit List'' enters the digital French charts at #18, and iTunes digital charts in the UK (#28) and the U.S (#32), while two singles hit the French Top 20, including "Philippine's Smiles", which also reaches #12 on the iTunes Jazz charts in the US, #1 in Sweden, #38 in the UK and #63 in Israël, while two other singles hit the Top 100 in Australia (at #53 and #69). Five years after its original release, "The Pink Side of Miss Daisy" finds its way in the Billboard U.S. Top 200 charts, at #86. In 2014, his EP containing two duets with Hank Marvin hits the iTunes Top 40 in the UK as well as in several countries (USA, Germany, France, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, New Zealand, Thailand, etc.). A string of compilations and singles make the charts in various countries the following years. In 2020, the compilation makes the album charts again in France, and reaches also the #1 position on the back catalogue charts. ''Guitar Tribute'' (2016) On March 25, 2016, Danel releases ''Guitar Tribute'' (Sony Music), a box set with 2 CD's (a compilation and a live album) and the DVD of a private live show, ''All You Need is Live'', given for his daughter. Half of the concert consists of Danel's hits, with two new songs, while the other half is a collection of covers of classics that influenced the guitar player (The Beatles, The Shadows, Elvis Presley, etc.). Half of the tunes are vocal. Several duets are included, as well as video tributes to Danel by Brian May of Queen, Hank Marvin of The Shadows, several French artists, the president of SACEM (French company of authors and composers), TV and radio directors and Sony Music and Warner Music CEOs. Danel embarks on an important media promotion, with a prime time TV show, several other TV appearances and TV advertising. The album enteres the charts at #7. The DVD, also sold apart, gets to #1 and is certified gold within a week. 11 songs make the downloading charts. His medley ''All You Need is Live / Apache'' goes to #1 in May. Other songs hit the #2, #3 and #4 spots, while some others are lower in the charts. The live version of ''Philippine's Smiles'' hits #22, while ''The Pink Side of Miss Daisy'', augmented with a Part II, hits the charts at #73. The DVD goes platinum by the end of May, after a gig at the Paris Olympia. This platinum disc is his 198th as a record producer, and his 43rd as an artist. Génération Guitare (2017) In 2017, Danel releases a double album, ''Génération Guitare'', in collaboration with French guitar maestro Jean-Félix Lalanne, backed with TV advertising and several prime time TV appearances. The album is a Top 10 hit and provides a small hit single with a cover of the 60's classic ''Shazam''. In July, Sony releases a set of 10 CD's anthology marking Danel's 35 years as a professionnal guitarist. Named '' Guitar Player'', it contains 214 songs and hits the charts at #71. In 2018, the digital compilation ''Guitar Highlights'' is a hit at #35 in France and several others records hit the charts internationaly. In 2019, his tune ''Skywalking'' is a #1 hit on the downloading charts, and #54 on the global charts. It announces the triple album''Guitar Story'', set to be released in 2020, and containing several duets, with Hank Marvin again, among others, and accompanied with a TV special. Danel also announces a charity duet on his tune ''Speed Limit'', with Brian May of Queen. ''L'Homme à la Guitare'', a long documentary about Danel, with 58 show-biz high-profile people interviewed, is announced on blu-ray and will be played in a some cinemas as well, and, in June, a new variety of rose is created and named after Danel. Guitar Story & Côté Jazz (2020) A biography, ''Guitar Hero Made in France'', by a Canadian journalist is released in February, and the DVD "Guitar Story TV Special" is released in March through special order sales only, and gets a gold disc. His duet with Hank Marvin on "M Appeal" hits #3 in Brazil and #1 in Greece on the jazz charts, while his album "Blues Mood" hits the US digital Top 40 at #34. The lockdown due to the Covid 19 virus delays the release of the "Guitar Story" album, originally due in May, but Danel releases a home-made single in April, "Ce Petit Chemin", a charity record to the benefit of the French hospitals. It hits the charts at #55, and is his 20th hit single. Early May, his album "Côté Jazz" hits the #1 spot on the Jazz Albums charts, and #3 on the digital album charts. It is followed in the charts by his compilation "Jazz Guitar", at #15. In October and November, several old albums are released again in France, and two of them reach the #1 position on the Back Catalogue charts, and another one reaches the #2 spot. His new Jazz opus, ''Les Notes Bleues'' hits the #9 spot on the Jazz album charts. Several singles hit the charts as well, his track ''Speed Limit'' reaching #22, other ones reaching the Top 40 and Top 50. In November as well, Danel releases in the UK, Australia, South Africa and Scandinavia a tribute to The Shadows, called ''Hats Off to the Boys'', consisting in a CD, a limited edition vinyl Picture Disc LP and a documentary on DVD. The album ''Guitar Story'' is delayed once more, due to the Covid 19 crisis, to 2021. Globally, Danel's guitar records have charted in 66 countries, with 88 hit singles and 69 hit albums. Producer As a record producer, Danel started his own company, Puzzle Productions, at 20, in 1989. He was then the youngest record producer in France. He produced dozens of hit records and also bought the rights for many songs from other companies, creating a 18,000 songs catalogue. Record industry specialists presented Danel in various TV documentaries as the biggest independent producers in France. On May, 15th, 2014, at Sony Music's Parisian headquarters, he was awarded a multi-diamond disc, celebrating 25 years in show business as a producer, 23,3 million copies sold and 191 gold and platinum discs then received. He now has a total of 201 gold and platinum discs. His work also includes the production, with DJ Da French Guy, of radio remixes for artists such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Daft Punk, and Moby, movie soundtracks, music for TV series with Oscar winning actor Jean Dujardin or publishing for French mega star Johnny Hallyday. More than 180 of his productions have been TV advertised, and he launched several collections based on his catalogue, such as CD Malins distributed by Sony Music (3,4 million copies sold) or Prix Câlin with Warner (more than a million copies sold). Books Danel is the author of 20 books, the best known of which are biographies of French playwright and actor Sacha Guitry. His second book about Guitry is featured on the book list for students in French language and litterature at Harvard, Standford, Princeton and Berkeley universities in the US. Danel also published a book about the Fender Stratocaster (foreword by Hank Marvin). In 2014, he releases the video "The Fender Stratocaster Story", based on the book and on his vast collection of guitars, in which can be found "Miss Daisy", a scarce 1954 pre production Stratocaster, seen in many books, magazines and exhibitions, and worth 300,000 US$. Miss Daisy is seen by many international specialists as one of the best electric guitar ever and is the subject of a documentary. The life size poster of the guitar is for sale at the Louvre Museum shop in Paris, and Danel publishes a book about Miss Daisy in 2021, in which he is the author of most of the photographies, as well as an autobiography, "Cordes Sensibles". Danel also published two biographies of Elvis Presley, and various other books. Charities Danel produced records to the benefit of various charities (AIDS, Amnesty International, etc.). Long time vegetarian (since he was 5) and animal lover, Danel launched "Guitar Players for Animal Rights" to the benefit of the association PETA, and was joined by fellow guitarists Brian May (of Queen) again, Steve Lukather (of Toto), Hank Marvin (of The Shadows) as well as French stars such as singer and composer/producer for Céline Dion Jean-Jacques Goldman or French movie star Jean-Paul Belmondo. Danel participated in various charities through the years.