Not one to play it safe and swim in waters others have swum, David is an acclaimed jazz guitarist and innovative composer. What defines his music is a defiance of labels. To wit: although he was schooled in bebop for many years with acclaimed teacher Charlie Shoemake in Los Angeles, he was exploring odd meters and long form composition in the 1990s (e.g. All Stories Are True; Object Relations) long before that was fashionable as it is today. His acclaimed band, Big Neighborhood (nominated for a Grammy with Neighbors), combined eclectic guitar-synth contrapuntalism with edgy harmonically-based improvisation. His current trio project blends elements of rock, progressive folk, and bebop in a thoroughly modern jazz guitar vein.

 

He has worked with George Garzone, Valery Ponomarev, Jeff Ballard, John Lockwood, Tim Armacost, Stomu Takeishi, Calvin Hill, Doug Miller, and Mark Walker, among many others, has 7 CDs as a leader, and toured extensively throughout North America. His orientation is jazz synthesis, in the truest sense of the term, weaving diverse influences from Frank Zappa to Paul Hindemith to Led Zeppelin to McCoy Tyner into a cohesive 21st century concept. This makes it hard for algorithms and marketers but rewards those curious about what is fresh and adventurous no matter how often heard.

 

He was raised in Chile, New York City and Spain, and makes his home in the San Francisco Bay Area (US).

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