Dan Moses Schlessinger is a little hard to pin down. Originally from Berkeley, California, Dan has three degrees in three different subjects (one more and he gets a set of steak knives!) His Bachelor's degree is in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, where he managed to win the Outstanding Saxophonist award at the Pacific Coast Collegate Jazz Festival the same year he graduated. He then moved to Boston and earned a Masters degree in Jazz Saxophone in 1999 from the New England Conservatory of Music, studying with (among others) George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi, Charlie Banacos, Danilo Perez, and Bob Moses.
After living in Brooklyn, NY for nearly 7 years, Dan is back in the Bay Area where he just finished up his second Master's degree, this time in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. There he studied audio signal processing and spent his time attempting to build new musical instruments such as his latest handheld concoction, the Kalichord.
In addition to the Kalichord, Dan plays saxophone and piano and writes lots of songs that are generally too hard for him to play. His jazz project, Danny Mo and the Schlesstones, reflects his omnidirectional approach to music combining elements of Afro-Cuban rhythms, funk, polyrhythms, jazz, soul, and other eclectic sources in his original compositions. His rock/soul project, where he goes by his pseudonym Dan Moses (it's my middle name, I mean his middle name, OK?), also utlizes a groove-oriented approach to music but with lyrics, drawing influences from Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Dr. John.
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