Dana Bauer - In My Own Voice (2006)

Dana Bauer grew up in Vallejo California as part of a music-loving family. A singer from the get-go, she took up the flute at age ten, later adding oboe, saxophone and clarinet to her woodwind arsenal. An oboe major at San Francisco State University, she worked her way through college singing with her own band. The band's repetoire included swing, country and pop, but then and always, Dana's heart belonged to the Great American Songbook. 'Those songs spoke to me in a way nothing else did,' she confides. All of that woodwind practice must have paid off, as Dana was tapped as a last minute replacement in the band for a tour of 'A Chorus Line', a ten week job that turned into three years of touring Europe and Asia. That tour led to a six year stint with 'Les Miserables'. 'I left college in the middle of a semester to go on the road, so I traded a Bachelor's in Music for a PhD in Showbusiness,' she quips. Her singing career had to take a backseat during those years on tour, but all that's changed. The demise of big record lables and the rise of self-produced projects have allowed artists like Dana to come into their own. Her first CD' In My Own Voice' is a collection of jazz standards, some chestnuts and some hidden treasures. With America's renewed appreciation for jazz and cabaret, Dana feels the timing of this CD couldn't be more perfect. 'It's always been my dream to sing what I want, the way I want, with the musicians I want. This CD is that dream realized.' Enjoy.