JOAN OF AUDIO & MUSIC

By Rain Jordan

A Higher Love

Our passions are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes. – Johann

Wolfgang von Goethe

PART II: THE PIANIST

Our next emergent artist to grace our magazine is pianist, singer, composer, producer, Dana Salzman. I am using the word emergent to describe those music artists that have not yet “made-it” to mainstream prominence or fame, but are very much “making-it”, locally and in every other way - making imaginative and original music, making an authentic and creative living, making audiences feel a connection to the beauty and soul of song and life.

Dana hails from the San Francisco Bay Area but has spent ten years studying and playing music in New York. She has four albums, Unfold (2020), Deep Down (2014), Rising (2010), Out of Your Hands (2004), a new album in the works, and numerous singles. I first saw her perform live a few months ago and I was immediately struck by her rousing but beautifully grounded stage presence, and her very distinctive progressive keyboard sound. After her first set, I knew I wanted to find out more about her music and the energy and impetus that gives birth to it.

The Interview

RAIN JORDAN (RJ) How did you get your start as a songwriter, composer, and musician, and what does that timeline look like?

DANA SALZMAN (DS) My Mom who is a classical pianist taught me from ages 4 through 12. At twelve I switched to a jazz piano teacher named Don Haas. I played in all the school bands and started gigging around town at age 15. Then I went to college in New York at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and earned a degree in Jazz Performance. I also formed my first band out there in New York around 1998, and that’s also when I started writing and recording my own original music as well as playing for others.

Painting by Rossetti