Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Waldis.
Hi Dan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born at LDS Hospital on April 1st, and things went downhill from there…. (kidding).
At about 10 years old I was given my first piano lessons by my great aunt, Mabel Frazer. She was a wonderful painter who was somewhat well-known in the world art communty.. She also had developed her own musical talent, and that’s where it began for me.
I absolutely hated taking the lessons because she was trying to teach me how to read music, and I wasn’t interested. As a result — and through some mysterious process I consider to be quite accidental — I learned how to play by ear. From then on, I was always like a deer in the headlights when it came to reading music (especially under pressure), but I can sit for hours and improvise. Later, of course, I improved my reading skills out of necessity.
Our family lived in Bountiful through the last half of my grade school and all of my junior high and high school years. As I progressed through school, I played Bb clarinet, tenor saxophone, and piano (mostly played tenor sax through junior high and high school). My parents were very supportive of my musical interests, and I always had good music teachers in school. At South Davis Junior High, my band teacher, Wayne James, had a profoundly positive influence on my life. His son Dennis and I have been good friends since then. My band teacher at Viewmont High School was named Gaylord Durland. Both Wayne and Gaylord had an infectious love of music that rubbed off on the students, and I grew musically during those years.
When I started at the University of Utah, I met several people who would become life-long friends. Among them were Alan Weight a great mentor (may he RIP). He was very encouraging to me. Some will recognize other names of other life-long friends with whom I have made many years of good music. Mark Chaney (who referred you to me), Steve Keen, Ed Brijs and I formed a quartet (with double keyboards) in the mid 1970’s called “Playback.” Mark (Chaney), Tully Cathey, Linke Hebrew and I formed a quartet later in the 70’s called “The Johnny People.” The origin of that name is a medium-length story, but suffice to say the name is a Mark Chaney-ism.
Another friend whom I met during my first year at the University of Utah and who had a tremendous influence on me was Merrill Clark (whose works are being played in many countries). He and I became close friends, and I learned much about harmony and composition from him. Henry Wolking, who was head of the jazz program at University of Utah for years. is also a good friend from whom I learned much. And there were many others.
I was fortunate to be in the jazz program beginning in 1969 at the University of Utah. Dr. William L. Fowler (a great mentor of mine and many other students) was head of that program; he and three of his five brilliant sons (Walt, Bruce and Tom) were encouraging to me while I was an up-and-coming student. Another significant influence was Ladd McIntosh, who was the jazz composer in residence at the time.
Over the years I was given opportunities to make music with many accomplished musicians. There are numerous musicians in Salt Lake whose playing is at a high level. Last weekend I played a concert which was part of my “Little Jazz” series. This one was “A Little Jazz For Your Valentine;” the band consisted of Mark Chaney (he shows up in a lot of good bands — hehe), April Iund Bowen on vocals (a beautiful voice!), Brian Booth playing excellent tenor sax and flute, and Matt Clayton, one of the finest bass players I have worked with.
Some of the nationally / internationally-known players with whom I have had opportunity to play are the likes of Bobby McFerrin (he actually lived in Salt Lake for a couple of years), Freddie Hubbard, Bill Watrous, Don Menza, Pete Christlieb, Allen Vizzutti, and Charlie Rouse — to name a few. I have been given many opportunities to play with some of the greats and feel fortunate to have been given them.
In the last couple of years I have begun a new direction. I have written several short stories, and from feedback I have been receiving, apparently some of them are turning out reasonably well. I have self-published 10 stories in the Kindle publishing on Amazon; anyone who is interested may find them by logging on to Amazon and typing “Dan Waldis” in the Amazon search.
And speaking of opportunities, thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts and some of my history in VoyageUtah!
Dan Waldis
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been mostly smooth. The roughest part were self-imposed. For about 14 years starting in 2000, I became part of the corporate / technical sector. I didn’t seem to be making an adequate living as a musician, so felt a necessity to pursue other paths. I gained some knowledge about Cisco Systems networking devices, then worked in technical support and eventually network administration using that knowledge.
Of course, that made me less available to play music jobs, especially during the day. Over those years, people called me less. That was the trade-off.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
One of the things I have done that is somewhat unique is an annual Christmas show for which I have written new arrangements each year. The show was called “A Little Jazz With Your Mistletoe”; I put the show on for 20+ years. I created arrangements of songs traditionally played / sung at Chistmas time that were different than the kind of arrangements one might usually hear. One year when I heard that someone in the audience hadn’t recognized one of the tunes until I announced the title after we played it, I felt I had accomplished what I had set out to accomplish (hehe).
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the mountains and watching the sunrise. I have a view of Mount Olympus from the picture window on the east side of my house that is absolutely glorious. And I have always been fortunate to know good people, whether in a work environment, neighbors, long-time friends, or people with whom I have brief associations in my daily affairs.
I can’t say there is anything that is least likeable to me about Salt Lake. There may be a little imbalance in the politics, but that has never prevented me from doing what I do.
Pricing:
- Solo piano playing — negotiable
- Trio (pno, bass, dr) — $800 / 3 hr.
- My Amazon Books — Read them free with Kindle Unlimited
Contact Info:
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dan+Waldis
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cloudsound-693282232/sets/mother-ship
