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David Cain

Music plus film plus words plus emotion plus sharing is my life.

About Me

I am a musician, composer, artist, filmmaker, author, teacher. My production company, UMEDIA, Inc., is celebrating 25 years of film/video, audio, interactive... multimedia pioneering productions.

I have a degree in music composition from ISU, having studied with Dr. Roque Cordero. My Master's thesis was titled, “Towards an Unbroken Media and Art: composing with a continuum of all arts and elements.” I am a founding faculty member of the Illinois Summer School for the Arts. I have taught music, film/video, animation, creative writing at University of Illinois, Robert Morris University, and Benedictine University. In 2005 I became a Chopra Center certified instructor of Primordial Sound Meditation. Deepak Chopra encouraged me to write my book, “Who Moved My Illusion?” available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble...

I was on the roster of Geffen Records in the 80s with my band Bux Da Hoota. Several CDs have been on the Grammy ballot: Looking for Your Face (2008) and Need Want (2010). My 201 film, The Yellow Wallpaper, is available on Amazon. Drummer Paul wertico and I produced “Feast For The Senses: An evening of improvised music.” available at Amazon and soon to be broadcast on PBS stations.

I improvise everyday, in sound and image and words and movement and emotions. More collaborations and improv concerts with Paul Wertico to come, along with a book on creativity and a movie on finding flow.

But I always come home to music, to my jazz, which seems to liberate my soul!

My Jazz Story

David Cain. An acclaimed revolutionary of “unbroken media and art”, David Cain is a composer, musician, vocalist, filmmaker, author, artist… in a class with music’s most forward-reaching innovators because of his groundbreaking multimedia explorations using old and new tech. David Cain’s musical journey includes studies with international award-winning composer, Dr. Roque Cordero (Arnold Schoenberg), writing for symphony, movies and the Stan Kenton Big Band, and making radio music while on roster of Geffen Records in the 80s with his band, Bux da Hoota. David's decade-long collaboration, Wertico Cain & Gray, with 7-time Grammy winner Paul Wertico (Pat Metheny Group), and bassist/cellist/composer, Larry Gray, has led to new music and art, winning a prestigious "Best Album - Live Performance" award along the way, and gathering audiences in search of new worlds of sound-making and digital cinema. (werticocainandgray.com) Chicago-based, this spontaneous trio composes and orchestrates everything in real-time, melting acoustic and electronic sounds with new-tech and word-tech, in-sync with an inner muse that connects to the universe of possibilities, and musically conversing to the point of sheer telepathy. Please check out our discography at Bandcamp. David has taught music, filmmaking, creative writing, and animation at the University of Illinois. Fun fact: David created an Apple computer “choir” startup sound while working as a pioneering Apple Evangelist. He was tired of the beep. He’s still tired of the beep. So he makes art and music to remedy the freaking beep. David is a Waves Audio artist. (www.davidjamescain.com)