DAVE YADEN: LOVE IS THE ANSWER
BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO
I first encountered Dave Yaden on a chilly Tuesday evening last fall at the magic-themed bar Black Rabbit Rose (BRR) in Hollywood. I was directed to the theater section of the BRR by a friend who highly recommended that I check out the weekly “jazz” band lead by Dave Yaden. Upon entering the smoky 40-seat cabaret style theatre that lies within the BRR, this tall guy with a long hair, tattoos and wide neck t-shirt (his signature look) takes the stage with his band mates—that guy was Dave Yaden.
Dave took his seat at the keyboard like a king on a throne ready to command the eighty-eight piano keys. For the next ninety minutes he captivated the hearts, sparked imagination, and ignited souls with his rocking music, virtuoso piano chops, and inspiring persona. I was expecting a “jazz” band, but this was something completely different . . . something better—it was jazz with a big J—music with improvisation, syncopated grooves and fellowship at its core. Musically speaking the musical style of the band is blissfully undefined. It’s a fusion of funk, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, and hip-hip. Yaden becomes the embodiment of this fusion when he takes a solo on the keys taking audiences through all these styles with Classical flare intermingled—you can tell that Debussy, Mozart and Liszt have been under his fingers at some point.
Dave Yaden and the band.
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Fast forward to August 30, 2019. In celebration of the release of Dave Yaden’s most recent album, his first album in three years, he hosted an art show at the warehouse event space called Seventh Place in DTLA. The name of this event was “Love is the Answer”. Yaden remarks about the event, “It’s all about loving yourself and loving other people. The answer to happiness and to better community […] is love”.
After seeing Yaden many more nights at the BRR, I quickly realized that he is a very special type of musician—a generous one. Every performance at the BRR Yaden invites his friends in the audience to take the stage for a song, or two. It’s a musical merry-go-round of the best kind. Thus, is it no surprise that this art show was also a collaborative effort—a giant one at that. The event was a collaboration between Yaden, and Ruben Rojas, an artist, muralist and TED speaker. They were the perfect pair to host this event because much like Yaden, Rojas is a firm believer in the power of art to uplift and inspire.
The evening featured live music performances by Yaden, Jacob Luttrell (another stellar BRR performer), Greta Karen, Casey Abrams (American Idol), Stefano Langone (American Idol), Matthew O. Grant, and Sean Hill (Poet/Actor/TED Speaker) to name a few. Covering the walls of the space were art pieces by Rojas, that included Yaden’s own 9-foot grand piano which was transformed into a technicolor piece of art inscribed many times over with the word “love”—a masterpiece that looked as good as it sounded. It was literally a room filled with love.
The grandest collaboration of all was with Mi Campo Tequila, a company who believed in the event so much that they decided to sponsor it providing free merchandise and tequila beverages all night long. Also featured this evening was strolling magic performances by “Hollywood’s favorite magician” Jeff Black (resident magician at BRR).
Words can only go so far to describe the success of “Love is the Answer” and the magnificent musical performances that occurred over the course of the evening. Thus, the words I leave you with are: go forth and make love the answer, and go to the BRR on a Tuesday night to experience power of Dave Yaden and his band for yourself.
