Born in Forest Hills, New York Dave started studying the sax in 1971 at 9 years old. His first impressionable contact with jazz was in 1974 in his junior high school big band when he saw the older musicians improvising. From that time on he started listening to, transcribing and playing jazz. His greatest influences from that time were, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt and John Coltrane. Also in 1974 Dave started working professionally playing school dances and private parties in his first band “Stretch and the Rubber Bands”. In 1977 Dave expanded his woodwind horizons with the flute and the clarinet. Today he is an active doubler on flute, G flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet and chromatic harmonica. In 1980 Dave attended St. Bonaventure University on a music scholarship and graduated in 1984. From 1984 through 1987 Dave was active in the Manhattan jazz scene fronting his own quartet and appearing with the following jazz masters: Mike Stern, Randy Brecker. Jaco Pastorius, Arnie Lawrence, Joey Calderazzo and Clem DeRosa. Also during this time Dave had the opportunity to study with Dave Liebman and Lawrence Feldman. Dave over the years as a performing artist, composer, arranger and teacher has participated in numerous jazz festivals in Brazil, the US, Europe and Africa and has fronted many groups of diverse instrumentation and musical styles. Currently Dave can be seen in the musical production “Movin’ out” at the Richards Rogers Theater in New York. In 1991 Dave moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil to further his studies of afro-Brazilian rhythms where he lived and worked through 2003.
