David Valdez- saxophonist

 Born in San Francisco in 1967, David grew up in Santa Cruz, California. David picked up the saxophone at the age of 8 years old. He attended Berklee College of music on full scholarship, where he studied with George Garzone and saxophone guru Joseph Viola (who also taught Michael Brecker, Brandford Marsalis and Charlie Mariano). While in Boston he worked with John Medeski, the Either Orchestra, Dave Holland, Clark Terry, Dominique Eade, Mick Goodrick, Danilo Perez, Bob Moses, The Four Tops, Ken Schaphorst, Jim Black, and Matt Wilson. 

After finishing his studies David moved back to the West Coast, where for several years he led bands in the Bay Area featuring such notable players as Larry Grenadier, Eddie Marshal, Jeff Ballard, Kenny Brooks, Kenny Wollesen, Larry Scheider, Dred Scott, Charlie Hunter, Vince Wallace, Liberty Ellman, Dmitri Metheny, Mark Levine and Scott Amendola.

 Eventually heading the call of New York City, Valdez moved east in the mid-nineties. There he worked with Kurt Rosenwinkle, Dave Fuiczynski, Josh Roseman, Ben Monder, Matt Otto, Art Lillard, Bob Mover, Brian Melvin, Jay Collins, Donny McCaslin, Ari Hoenig, Peter Appelbaum and Ben Allison.   

 In 2000 David relocated to Portland, Oregon's thriving Jazz scene. Since moving to the Northwest he has worked with Nancy King, David Friesen, Alan Jones, Gary Smulyan, Rob Scheps, Glen Moore, Mel Brown, Dave Frishberg, Bert Wilson, Randy Porter and Robert Moore.

 David's Oasis CD was released on the Diatic record label last year and has been receiving radio airplay in France, Luxembourg, Columbia, Netherlands, Turkey, Italy, Australia, Armenia, Macedonia, Germany, Poland, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Scotland, Ukraine, and Belarus.

 

David performed and taught at the Prague International Jazz Workshop in 2009.

 Festival and concert appearances:

Monterey Jazz festival      (7 years, CA)

North Sea Jazz festival      (Holland)

Telluride Jazz festival       (CO)

'86 World Expo at Tskuba (Japan)

Boston Globe Jazz festival (MA)

Tanglewood Music festival   (NY)

Yamano Jazz festival       (Japan)

Bradford Jazz festival      (CT)

San Jose Jazz festival      (CA)

Santa Fe Jazz festival      (NM)

Jazz under the Stars       (NM)

Be-Bop and Brew           (CA)

Cathedral Park Jazz festival (3 years,OR)

 Clubs performed at:

The Knitting Factory, New York

Smalls, New York

Blue Note, New York

Cleopatra’s Needle, New York

Savoy Lounge, New York

Birdland, New York

The Up and Down, San Francisco

Pearl’s, San Francisco

Yoshi’s, Oakland

Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz

Ryles, Boston

Tritone, Philadelphia

Nardis, Istanbul

U Maleho Glena Jazz Club, Prague

Jazz Dock, Prague

Blue Whale, Los Angeles

Crescendo, Bel Air

Jimmy Mak's, Portland

David has also performed and/or recorded with:

 Slide Hampton, Pharaoh Saunders, Kitty Margolis, Rebecca Parris, Roy Hargrove, Mal Waldron, Gorge Rossi, Toshiko Akioshi/Lew Tabakin, Bill Berry, The Drifters, Eddie Henderson, Victor Mendoza, Dennis Rowland, Rick Margitza, Mundell Lowe, Joseph Viola Double Quartet, Scott Amendola, Will Bernard, Jay Lane, Paul Anka, Little Anthony, Seamus Blake, Ronnie Burrage, Bob Reynolds.

Press:

"Since moving to town from New York City, David Valdez has shown himself to be a rigorously adaptable player and a jazz gent who can make things happen. With his broad shouldered alto tone he builds his solos architecturally like very few players in town. His Latin Quartet explores some rhythmically challenging turf and may be one of the tightest new additions on our jazz bulletin board.''

 Bill Smith, Willamette Week

“Alto saxophonist David "Carlos" Valdez is a full-throttle player with a rich knowledge of both bebop and latin jazz. You can hear in the warmth of his tone and the urgency of his wail, time-well spent in the jazz salt mines of NYC, the Bay Area, and beyond.”- Tim DuRoche, Strong Week

“Alto saxophonist David Valdez is one of the blazing lights of PDX's vastly underrated Latin music scene. Having worked with players both young (Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Charlie Hunter, John Medeski) and older (Clark Terry, Dave Holland, Slide Hampton, Pharoah Saunders, Mal Waldron, Bob Moses), he's equally at home in bop, blues, and utter free blowing and muscles subtly into tunes with a Sonny Criss energy.-Tim DuRoche, Oregonian

"Valdez moved to Portland from New York in 2000 with a Berklee College of Music background and the ability to blow hard or tenderly with a mature sound and supreme confidence."- Lynn Doroche, Jazz Scene Magazine

“David's playing and approach is so methodical yet simultaneously mystical that it is an encompassing experience to hear him.”- Jason Dumars, saxophone.com

Links: 
Reverb Nation page
MySpace Page
All About Jazz page 
Jazz Scene Magazine interview


CDs:
David Valdez Quartet
Oasis (w/Pere Soto)- CD Baby 
Reasons to be Thankful (Art Lillard)
Making Lunch w/Ken Schaphorst Band
Klezmocracy - CD Baby

Transcription:
David's solo on I'll Take Romance