On multiple occasions, his work has been published in the Globe: snaps of Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart dozing mid-transit on a Faces tour, Steven Tyler in a see-through shirt with a “fan” on one arm and a bottle of wine in the other, Alvin Lee of Ten Years After hunched over an acoustic guitar backstage, cigarette clenched between his lips.
The historic portraits and candids represent just one facet of Daniels’s legacy in Boston, where he was a street photographer, on-air talent at WBCN, and emcee at the Boston Tea Party. They’re also just a few crumbs from Daniels’s 3,000-plus rolls of film, most of which were undeveloped when he died in 2024.
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“I still find the odd roll of film stuck in a jacket pocket or a camera bag that I hadn’t emptied out yet,” says his life partner, Susan Berstler, who’s been sending the mountains of undeveloped material to the Saskatchewan company Film Rescue International.
But according to Berstler, the digitization process is “winding down” at last, after a years-long journey that began during Daniels’s final chapter, and has stretched to the present. Some of these never-before-seen snaps from Daniels’s gold mine will be on display in Davis Square Tuesday night, when the Burren hosts a celebration of Daniels’s life and career, days after the second anniversary of his passing.
The event will serve as a fund-raiser for further preserving Daniels’s legacy, and also offers the Boston community a chance to celebrate the eras and music that Daniels documented with his eager spirit and judicious eye. Tuesday’s festivities will feature a slideshow of 300 to 400 of Daniels’s photos — some of which were previously displayed at the Nave Gallery in Somerville, and some that have never been shown publicly — and a performance from the Beasts of Burren, a Rolling Stones tribute act.
A portrait of Charles Daniels that his life partner, Susan Berstler, recently discovered.The Estate of Charles Daniels
Appropriately, the event is a tailor-made tribute to Daniels’s interests. The Burren was one of his and Berstler’s favorite watering holes, and Daniels had a close connection to the Stones via Ronnie Wood, whom Daniels met when Wood was a member of the Jeff Beck Group. Wood notably invited Daniels to accompany the Stones on the 1975 tour; famed Rolling Stone staffer Annie Leibovitz was the tour’s official photographer, while Daniels gained more intimate access to the group.
“He had a number of funny stories about Annie sort of stepping in front of him on purpose to block a shot,” Berstler says.
Despite his proximity to the ultimate who’s-who of rock history, Daniels never captured images for clout, and saw himself “first of all, a black-and-white street photographer,” Berstler says. Some memoir-worthy stories surfaced when the couple started the digitization process years ago; Berstler, for instance, was surprised when she discovered a snap of Keith Moon, whom Daniels had never mentioned knowing.
The two men knew each other, all right. The photo prompted Daniels to recall the time he found the Who’s wildcard drummer standing on a table, naked, in a Boston Tea Party green room. Then Moon launched himself onto Daniels and wrestled him to the ground.
“I’m going, ‘I don’t know what’s weirder, that you’re telling me this story or that I’ve known you for almost 40 years and I never heard that you even met Keith Moon,’” Berstler remembers thinking.
Fans and acquaintances of Daniels seem to have a similar reaction to the breadth of his work. When the Nave Gallery hosted a selection of Daniels’s photos in 2024, months after his death, Berstler says that visitors “were just as engaged, if not even more so, with the street images,” compared to the rock photography.
Now, with the full scope of Daniels’s work to choose from and share with the public, Tuesday night’s presentation feels like a continuation of his story, and the clearest depiction of his legacy to date.
“The fact that Charles got to see most of this happen before he passed is somewhat of a miracle and incredibly special,” Berstler concludes. “He died feeling loved, recognized, and successful. I don’t really think you can ask for anything more than that.”
GIG GUIDE
Friday will be a serene night at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, as Gregory Alan Isakov serenades guests with low-key folk from his most recent album, 2023’s “Appaloosa Bones.” Last year, the South African-born singer embarked on a special “symphony tour” that incorporated orchestras local to Isakov’s tour stops into his performances. Boston wasn’t on the list, but Rhode Island fans can check out the experience when Isakov performs with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday at the Providence Performing Arts Center.
During the week, Passim curates a similar atmosphere. After releasing a pair of singles last fall — “Nervous” and “We Did Alright” — Peabody-born folk and soul artist Ryan Montbleau drops his backing band and goes solo for three consecutive acoustic shows at the club, Tuesday through Thursday.
Guests at City Winery this weekend will be seeing double, as NOLA’s Rebirth Brass Band stacks early and late shows on Friday, followed by a Saturday doubleheader from contemporary jazz saxophonist and flutist Najee (not to be confused with Roxbury’s own rapper and R&B standout, Najee Janey). Also on Saturday, Western Mass. group Misty Blues — who were just announced as part of this year’s Green River Festival lineup — heat up the winery’s Haymarket Lounge.
It’s geography week, apparently. Sunday evening, Michigan chamber-pop act Racing Mount Pleasant perform at the Sinclair. Breezy pop singer Del Water Gap — a Connecticut-born singer who nicked his name from the Delaware Water Gap — also brings some pep to Roadrunner on Tuesday with material from his fall album “Chasing the Chimera.”
Venna, a South London saxophonist and producer, stirs up his jazz-based blend of soul, bossa nova, and R&B at Brighton Music Hall on Thursday. Haasan Barclay, forever one of this columnist’s “why-aren’t-they-famous-yet?” picks from the Boston music scene, opens the evening with his equally sundry solo material. For a taste of his range, check out Barclay’s sweet-talking single “Call My Phone” and the earth-shattering beats of Camp Blood, the industrial hip-hop project he cofounded.
And, for something completely different in the Theatre District, break a New Year’s resolution (or two) at Alleycvt’s Royale rager on Thursday. The Virginia DJ and producer released her debut EP, “9 LIVES,” last fall, and performed at the most recent edition of Breakaway Mass, a Worcester EDM festival.
NOW SPINNING
Girl Tones, “Volcano.” Attention, folks ready to buckle under the weight of current events: Have you tried the patented Girl Tones method for managing stress? “Crash out at the bar/ Threw my phone out the window” goes the chorus of the sister duo’s new single, a fuzz-rock pressure cooker called “Volcano.” Curt yet charming in its cynicism, “Volcano” is one part of 2026 we’re happy to see bubble over.
Girl Tones’ new single “Volcano” is a fuzz-rock pressure cooker.Kate LaMendola
Ali McGuirk, “Where Does All The $ Come From?” (Foundation Movement Remix). New year, new genre. Vermont blues singer-songwriter Ali McGuirk reinvents this socially-conscious track from 2025 with help from Boston emcee and activist Ernesto “Eroc” Arroyo-Montano, whose lyrics infuse McGuirk’s commentary on greed with an extra dose of reality. His choice final remark: “Is the price of gold worth more than your soul?”
BONUS TRACK
Juliana Hatfield fans, where exactly do you find the room for all of those LPs? Roughly a month after releasing her 21st solo album, “Lightning Might Strike,” the Mass. alt-rock VIP has announced a 25th anniversary reissue of “God Bless the Blake Babies,” the 2001 album that reunited her with the band she cofounded at Berklee. Connecticut label American Laundromat Records will unveil the remastered Blake Babies album this spring; preorders are available now.
Victoria Wasylak can be reached at victoria.wasylak@globe.com. Follow her on Bluesky at VickiWasylak.bsky.social.