David Chevan

I am the first-born son of a family of second-generation Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. I was musically active from an early age and grew up in a Conservative-Egalitarian Jewish synagogue where I led services from the age of 10. Although much of my performing method on the double-bass has been self taught, I credit the master bassist, Lisle Atkinson with showing me the pathway to self-education. As a composer I have primarily focused on works for improvisors. I write works for a wide range of artists and ensembles, including several collaborations with dance and film. I think I have been fortunate in that the critics have compared me to some of my heroes like Charles Mingus and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. In addition to performing regularly in a duo with pianist Warren Byrd and co-leading The Afro-Semitic Experience, I have had the opportunity to perform and record with a wide range of creative musical artists, including Ali Ryerson, Joe Beck, Jaki Byard, Harold Danko, Ellery Eskelin, Giacomo Gates, Frank London, Andrea Parkins, and Cookie Segelstein. I retired from a long career of teaching music for 32 years at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. I hold a Ph.D in Music History from C.U.N.Y. and have published numerous articles on the history of early jazz, developed and taught courses on Jewish and African-American musical traditions. I continue to study the music of bassist Slam Stewart as well as exploring the music of the turn of the century Jewish cantorial tradition. I am also proud to be a member of the board of trustees of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

As for touring I do it whenever I can. Book me, please!!

David Chevan: The Days of Awe

Read "The Days of Awe" reviewed by Elliott Simon

by Elliott Simon
December 10, 2003

With the Afro-Semitic Experience, bassist David Chevan and pianist Warren Byrd use jazz to entice African American and Jewish spiritual music to meet as brothers. On Chevan's first solo effort, The Days of Awe , he instead chooses to filter Jewish High Holy Day melodies through a multifaceted “jazz prism." The outcome is highly accessible music that retains its original dignity. Six of the nine pieces are from the repertoire of Cantor Yoselle Rosenblatt (1882-1933), arguably the most famous Jewish ...

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Album Review

David Chevan and Warren Byrd: Let Us Break Bread Together

Read "Let Us Break Bread Together" reviewed by AAJ Staff

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

The title of this disc--along with its subtitle, “Further explorations of the Afro-Semitic experience"--may suggest difficult listening. (Ceremonial, restrictive, and heavy are a few words that may come to mind.) But rest assured, that's not at all the case. Let Us Break Bread Together is more a joyous celebration of diversity than it is any kind of solemn piece of gravity.

Pianist Warren Byrd and bassist David Chevan work together on these duo improvisations, melding a variety of approaches into ...

Recording

Reckless DC Music Releases: This Is The Afro-Semitic Experience by Warren Byrd and David Chevan

Source: All About Jazz
May 19, 2002

“The Byrd/Chevan alliance becomes all the more provocative.... and essential. Reflecting the spirit of this ensemble, the music is an alchemist's brew of traditional Jewish songs, pieces by African and African- American artists, and Chevan compositions or arrangements . . . a recording rich with the spirit of shared experiences and true brotherhood in its execution, noble and thought provoking in its construction" --Willard Jenkins, from the liner notes

African-American pianist Warren Byrd and Jewish-American bassist David Chevan continue their ...
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