David Heymann: Meet the Artist

Meet the Artist

At age 15 David Heymann joined the New York City Musicians Union, Local 802 and freelanced as a drummer for many years. He received a 4-year percussion scholarship to attend college and soon began hanging out at the jazz clubs in Manhattan. He built a solid musical foundation in New York before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1976 David entered the world of jazz radio at KUSP-FM Santa Cruz. He saw Brazilian music and jazz moving closer together and soon began programming Brazilian music specials. In 1984 he produced Radio KFJC’s 1st Brazilian marathon featuring live performances of almost every Brazilian band in the Bay Area. At that marathon David was invited to join a local bateria simply called “Escola de Samba.” Soon he became deeply involved in playing the music as well as visiting Brazil.

For the past 18 years David has been the radio host of Canta Brasil on listener-supported KKUP-FM. As the host of Canta Brasil he produced guitarist Paulo Bellinati’s first American concert and was the consultant to Putumayo World Music, helping them produce their first Brazilian compilation Brasileiro (reviewed here).

In 1999 David gave up his 34-year career as a child and family therapist and began to concentrate on his interest in photography. He’s currently involved with abstract photographs such as the “Bat Macumba” seen below and is planning a photography exhibition later this year.