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DW Project
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Like John Coltrane's genius album, A Love Supreme, the debut album from local modern Jazz troupe DW Project, Welcome to the Open Door, is the sonic equivalent of a spiritual journey. Told largely without words (save a few spoken-word passages), the journey is that of band leader Dan Walzer, a Lexington-born/Cincinnati-bred multi-instrumentalist with a highly personal story to tell.
In 1995, a car accident that killed a best friend and nearly killed Walzer left the musician with a mountain of extreme emotions that, coupled with an ensuing substance abuse problem, led to a bottoming out.
"On the one hand, I was grateful for my life," he says. "But dealing with the recovery process put a lot of things in perspective. I went through a period of violent emotional turmoil, which then fed my creativity."
Walzer says that, while not indoctrinated to any religion per se, the trauma led him to God. That spiritual quest became the crux of the Open Door album, a moody, eclectic album that roams from well-played contemporary and traditional Jazz to expansive, New Age-like soundscapes.
"The urge to share my story and help others has been the biggest influence in my life," Walzer says. "I could go on for hours about the amount of musical influences I have, but above and beyond that, God gave me the gift of song, and it's my hope that I can share a little bit of 'me' with anyone who is willing to listen. It's that urgency and sincerity that drives what I do each day."
Besides an abundance of personal experiences to draw on for inspiration, Walzer also brings an impressive wealth of professional experience to the DW Project (especially given the fact that Walzer is only in his mid-'20s). Walzer, who now works in radio for Clear Channel in Dayton, first latched on to percussion, studying in CCM's preparatory program and performing with the Cincinnati Youth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart. Around the age of 16, Walzer began to delve into the world of Jazz and popular music, exploring the sounds of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Genesis, James Brown, John Coltrane and others. Going into college at Ohio's Bowling Green State University, Walzer considered majoring in music education, but chose Jazz studies instead.
"After some reflection, I realized my heart was more aligned with the music of Miles and Coltrane than Mozart," he says. His studies have paid off and, today, Walzer is a regular session player, playing on records by artists like Staring at the Sea and Vic Daniels Quartet. While originally a percussionist, Walzer has amassed some skills on a variety of instruments, playing bass, keys and guitar on the DW Project album (live, the group consists of Walzer, bassist Kerry Jordan and pianist John Skinner).
Walzer says that he sees many encouraging things going on in the local Jazz scene -- talented musicians, CCM students, J Curve Records, etc. -- but there are still some pieces of the puzzle needed to make it as strong of a scene as it can be.
"The biggest problem with the Cincinnati Jazz scene, in my estimation, is that it's a bit insular," he says. "As is the case with many genres of music, there are lots of great artists and not enough venues to support them. I'd love to see some more venues allow Jazz to be played there. The problem too is that a lot of bar owners don't really know much about Jazz. They think it's high-brow, intellectualized music that can't compete with the cover bands."
In response, Walzer has taken his brand of groove-based Jazz to clubs that don't normally feature Jazz, performing at Rock venues like the Mad Frog and Southgate House.
"Our sound is incredibly eclectic, and we'd really like to have the opportunity to show audiences that they can dance to our music and appreciate it for the level of musicianship," Walzer says. "We're Jazz guys that love to groove. I think that our goal is really to raise the bar on the conservatism Cincinnati is used to. The DW Project has something to say, and creatively we're working so hard to create a voice that's a little different from the other artists in town."
With his diverse musical experience and jobs in radio, Walzer has gathered many industry contacts, which helps in his other guise, as founder of the Essence of Now record label. EON is the home of Open Door, which has received positive radio response all over the country. In mid-December, the label will release a compilation album, Just Listen Volume 1, featuring a variety of local artists, including Semi-Automatic, Geo Zmed and Katie Gilday Band. Walzer also has plans to release albums by Dophesus, Duglus Alun and Sheila Marshall, with a new DW Project record due sometime next summer.
Walzer's immediate goals are to get the DW Project on the road in support of the album, but he'd also like to see Essence of Now become a viable label to promote Cincinnati's eclectic musical output.
"You know, there are the 'doers' and (there are) people who wait for things to come to them," Walzer says. "Hopefully Essence of Now will be able to help revitalize the scene here in town by putting out great records and supporting this city. I'm a doer, and am very passionate about my career. I'd like to be able to expand from a local level to a regional level ... and take some people with me in the process."
THE DW PROJECT perform at the Greenwich on Dec. 15 in support of the Just Listen compilation album. For more information, check essenceofnow.com.
