Dan DeChellis

Dan DeChellis has been immersed in music from listening, improvising, playing classical, rock and jazz and collecting records for as long as he can remember. His first job was a paperboy, his second was in a record store where his collection and interests grew. He focused on Classical Music in college for knowledge and technique and continued to improvise and discover Jazz, which he loved. He studied Jazz Piano with Laurie Altman and was in jazz bands during his undergraduate and graduate college years. Dan also attended The New England Conservatory in Boston for a period to study with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in the Contemporary Improvisation Department.

He formed his label Sachimay Records in Boston in 1997 and released his first two records, “Shapes” and “Real Time” with the DeChellis / Tomasic / Nakatani Trio to great acclaim by the press. The trio performed at Scullers Jazz Club and the Autumn Uprising Festival. In New York City, DeChellis performed regularly with Daniel Carter, Reuben Radding and Dee Pop at CBGB’s, founded the Improvised & Otherwise Festival, and shared the Main Stage with Gerry Hemingway at The Knitting Factory.

For the past 15 years, DeChellis has taught Improvisation and Piano at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. He also has released 5 albums of original music for his piano trio and a number of Improvised Music, Rock and Ambient records with Anita DeChellis, Gary Hassay, Beholder, The Appropriation Committee, Four The Day, Acoustic Kitty Project and The Dana Gaynor Band.

Dan’s varied projects have brought him to many well-known stages such as, Chris’s Jazz Café (Phil), The Stone Pony (NJ), The Knitting Factory (NYC), New Langton Arts (CA), Tonic (NYC), World Café Live (Phil), Wonderbar (NJ), Musikfest (PA).