www.davidJaneway.com
www.Hastingsjazzcollective.com

David Janeway, born in Rochester, NY but from age of five grew up in Detroit. In 1978 at age 23, I moved to NYC and have lived here ever since.

My entire family, including grandparents, parents and siblings all played the piano. My mother started me out with classical piano lessons at age four and from age 5-13 I studied classical piano. My father, who played some jazz piano, took me to see Oscar Peterson at Baker's Keyboard Lounge when I was 14 and that changed my life. I had been playing professionally in rock/blues bands from age 13 but switched to jazz after beginning to improvise in "jam bands". Early influences were Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Bud Powell, Marcus Belgrave and Harold McKinney (Marcus and Harold ran the Metro-Arts Workshop in Detroit, which is where many musicians my age received a jazz education). Other major influences included Denny Zeitlin and Eddie Henderson. The fact that they were also MDs was inspirational because from a very early age I loved science and music and learned that it was possible to have a dual career in music and medicine.
I was fortunate and remain grateful to have grown up in Detroit in the 60s and 70s, given the deep jazz tradition and the sheer number of great musicians there were to learn from and later play with. Many of them were Motown musicians as you can imagine and I had the opportunity to work with the Supremes. I also performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Marcus Belgrave in a big band concert at Oakland University when I was 19. This was run by Marvin "Doc" Holliday. I was very busy working with a trio backing many fine vocalists as well as being a sideman with Art Farmer, Michal Urbaniak and Sonny Fortune when they came to town along with Marcus Belgrave, Roy Brooks, Charles Moore, and many others. 
When I moved to NYC in 1978 I worked as part of the salsa scene for two years in NYC 1978-80 with Angel Canales and Sabor, while studying with the late Albert Dailey during this period. In NYC I have worked with Art Farmer, Dakota Staton, Valery Ponomarev, Tom Harrell, Sonny Fortune, Roseanna Vitro, Pete Yellin, Harvie S, and others.

My first musical project was writing all the original music and recording my first LP, "Entry Point" (1986, New Direction), which is now available on CD (2016 New Direction). This self produced recording featured a band I was working with in Detroit featuring Marcus Belgrave and Marion Hayden among others on Side A and a NYC band featuring Bob Berg, Lee Smith and Steve Berrios on Side B. I've gone on to record several self produced albums, one of which, "Inside Out", featuring Sonny Fortune and Billy Hart, was released on Timeless Records. My latest projects have been the release of another trio recording, "Secret Passages" and "Shadow Dances" as part of the Hastings Jazz Collective. I am currently working on another trio album.

Early recordings that inspired me include Denny Zeitlin's Live At The Trident and Zeitgeist, Dave Brubeck's Time Out, Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil and many others, Herbie Hancock's Speak Like a Child, Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, Seven Steps and Plugged Nickel, Bill Evans (everything), all of Bud Powell and Monk, Oscar Peterson and Andrew Hills recordings for Blue Note. Keith Jarrett's Facing You was a pivotal jazz piano recording that changed the course of solo piano playing. Paul Bley, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson (In and Out), Larry Young (Unity), Wynton Kelly and many others. 

Musical Education: I grew up before there were jazz colleges except for Berklee. There were exceptions and as I said earlier, Marvin "Doc" Holliday had a jazz program at Oakland University beginning in 1972. But primarily I learned on the bandstand and with jazz workshops in Detroit. I studied for two years with Albert Dailey after arriving in NYC. My "lessons" were much more than just learning how to play jazz piano. Albert was my mentor and would let me sit in with George Coleman, Junior Cook and others that he was working with. He was a virtuosic pianist, that was classically trained at the Peabody Institute, as well an accomplished composer/arranger.  I studied composition and arranging on my own after coming to NYC.
After working full time as a musician in NYC from 78-82, I applied and entered medical school at Michigan State University. I graduated in 1986 and then went on to complete a psychiatric residency in NYC at Beth Israel Medical Center and have had a dual career practicing psychiatry and playing music professionally. 

My approach to creating music: I have always felt that playing jazz, compared to other musical genres, allows me the greatest range of individual expression. This expression of freedom is even more essential nowadays, given the times we live in where our basic freedom is at stake. I try to remain true to the great jazz piano tradition by concentrating on being as soulful and swinging as possible, while hopefully adding my own voice along the way.  I find that as a psychiatrist there is an overlapping process of intense listening and a communication that grows out of a deep compassion all in the service of healing. Music is this force of nature that we cannot control but rather as musicians we become vessels for the Music to work through us. This ancient healing force needs to be experienced preferably live for us to be transformed. Given the digital age and economic forces we are becoming more and more detached from this very basic human need.

My current and future project is continuing to write for, work and record with my trio with Cameron Brown and Tim Horner. My last trio recording "Secret Passages" (2017, New Directions) was with my previous trio with Frank Tate and Chuck Zeuren. I continue to run the jam session at the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, NY where I try to give back to the younger musicians. As well I continue to gig as a sideman with various other musicians. I began the Hastings Jazz Collective over ten years ago as a writing workshop for my friends and local musicians in the Rivertowns (Harvie S, Tim Armacost, Jay Azzolina and Ron Vincent). We continue to gig together and I hope we can put out another recording.
 

Artist Profile - David Janeway

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