DAVID JANEWAY was born in Rochester, New York. He began studying classical piano at the age of six after moving to Detroit in 1960. Early influences included Harold McKinney, Marcus Belgrave, Bill Evans and Denny Zeitlin. After moving to New York City in 1978, Janeway studied with the late Albert Dailey for two years.

During this time he worked and recorded with Angel Canales and Orchestra Sabor and other Latin/Jazz artists such as Art Farmer, The Supremes, Michal Urbaniak, Spanky Wilson, David "Fathead" Newman, Jr. Cook, Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart, Tom Harrell, Danny Gottlieb, Louis Smith, Dakota Staton, Pete Yellin, Valery Ponomarev, Benny Golson, Harvie S and others. 

He has performed at Mezzrow, Smalls, Zinc Bar, Birdland, Jazz Forum, Zanzibar, Visiones, Sonny's, Village Gate for the Salsa Meets Jazz series, J's, Sweet Basil, Sweet Rhythm, Cleopatra's Needle and other NYC clubs. Janeway performed at the NYC Salsa Festival at Madison Square Garden in 1980,  the Detroit Jazz Festival along with other festivals and clubs throughout the US and Europe.

Janeway has recorded five trio albums. His first, “Excursion,” released in 2004 features Harvie S and Steve Davis and is comprised of both standards and originals. His second trio CD, “Secret Passages,” (New Direction, 2017) features Frank Tate on bass and Chuck Zeuren, drums and features a mix of originals and standard arrangements.

For the past several years Janeway can be heard with his current piano trio featuring Billy Hart and Cameron Brown and as a sideman with various artists such as Patience Higgins, Eliot Zigmund, Ray Blue, Tito Puente Jr., Marianne Solivan, Peter Brainin and others. This trio released their first CD, “Distant Voices” on Steeplechase Records (SCCD 33145) 9/15/21 and serves as a tribute to the many jazz pianists that have inspired and influenced Janeway throughout his career.

Janeway recorded “Inside Out”, (Timeless Records, SJP 402/1993) as a leader and features Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart, Chip Jackson and Valery Ponomarev. (See reviews).

Janeway created the Hastings Jazz Collective in 2008. Made up of friends/veteran NYC jazz musicians, Tim Armacost, Jay Azzolina, Harvie S and Ron Vincent, this working band is a composer’s workshop that represents the cutting edge of contemporary mainstream and latin/jazz. Their newly released CD, “Shadow Dances” (2019, New Direction Music), is available through Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby and youtube.

He created, directs and performs in “Hastings on Jazz”, a free summer jazz concert series held in Hastings on Hudson, NY each year. Recent performances include “Salsa Meets Jazz” with Bobby Sanabria and bands with Ray Blue, Tim Armacost, Harvie S, Eliot Zigmund, Marianne Solivan, Gary Smulyan, Vincent Herring, Freddie Hendrix, Valery Ponomarev, Peter Brainin and many others.

As well Janeway is a member of the Eliot Zigmund Quartet; a working collective created in 2020 with Eliot Zigmund, drums, Rick Savage, trumpet and David Kingsnorth, bass. Eliotzigmundquartet.com. This band continues to perform at major venues in the greater NYC region including appearances at Smalls Jazz Club in NYC, Deer Head Inn, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar in Nyack, NY and the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown, NY.

Janeway’s latest trio CD, Forward Motion (Steeplechase SCCD 31966) was released on 10/25/24 and features his trio with Billy Hart on drums and Cameron Brown, bass.