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David Friedman

b. 1944

American jazz percussionist

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About David Friedman

Born 1944. David Friedman is an American music educator, jazz musician, university teacher, composer and bandleader.

David Friedman at the Moers Festival in 1978David Friedman (born March 10, 1944, New York City) is an American jazz percussionist. His primary instruments are vibraphone and marimba.

Friedman began studying drums in 1955, then added marimba and xylophone in the 1960s at Juilliard; while a student there, he also studied with Hall Overton and Teddy Charles. In the 1960s he was a member of the New York Philharmonic and the pit orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, and worked as a jazz musician with Wayne Shorter, Joe Chambers, Hubert Laws, Horace Silver, and Horacee Arnold in the 1970s. He and Dave Samuels played together in drum workshops before starting a project in 1975, called The Mallet Duo. They also assembled a quartet called Double Image during the years 1977–1980. Friedman later worked with Daniel Humair and Chet Baker, and taught at the Manhattan School of Music and in Montreux in the 1970s. He moved to Berlin in 2021.

Discography As leader Winter Love April Joy (East Wind, 1975) Futures Passed (Enja, 1977) Of the Wind's Eye (Enja, 1981) Shades of Change with Geri Allen, Anthony Cox, Ronnie Burrage (Enja, 1986) Junkyard with David Charles (DMP, 1992) Ternaire with Daniel Humair, Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark (Deux Z, 1992) Air Sculpture (Traumton, 1994) Other Worlds with Anthony Cox, Jean-Louis Matinier (Intuition, 1997) Birds of a Feather with Jasper Van't Hof (Traumton, 1999) Earfood (Skip, 2004) Weaving Through Motion (Traumton, 2014) Rodney's Parallel Universe (Skip, 2007) Retro with Peter Weniger (Skip, 2010) Thursday (Malletmuse, 2018) Flight (Malletmuse, 2019)

With Double Image Double Image (Inner City, 1977) Dawn (ECM, 1979) Dialogues: Three Duets for Marimba, and Vibraphone (Marimba, 1985) In Lands I Never Saw (Celestial Harmonies, 1986) Open Hand (DMP, 1994) Moment to Moment (Double Image 2006)

With Four Drummers Drumming Four Drummers Drumming (Backyard, 1990) Electricity (Backyard, 1991)

As sideman

With Tim Buckley Happy Sad (Elektra, 1969) Blue Afternoon (Straight, 1969) Once I Was (Strange Fruit, 1999) Works in Progress (Rhino, 1999) The Copenhagen Tapes (PLR, 2000)

With Daniel Humair Triple Hip Trip (Owl, 1979) Surrounded 1964/87 (Blue Flame, 1987) Ear Mix (Sketch, 2003)

With Jazzanova Another New Day/L.O.V.E. and You & I (Ropeadope, 2002) In Between (JCR, 2002) Remixed (JCR, 2003)

With Hubert Laws Afro-Classic (CTI, 1970) Morning Star (CTI, 1972) The Rite of Spring (CTI, 1972) Carnegie Hall (CTI, 1973) In the Beginning (CTI, 1974) Then There Was Light Volume 1 (CTI, 1974) Then There Was Light Volume 2 (CTI, 1974)

With Yoko Ono Feeling the Space (Apple, 1973) Season of Glass (Geffen, 1981) It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (Polydor, 1982)

With Beth Orton Best Bit (Heavenly, 1997) Central Reservation (Heavenly, 1999) Trailer Park (Heavenly, 2009)

With Rosie Better Late Than Never (RCA Victor, 1976)

With others Horace Arnold, Tribe (Columbia, 1973) Horace Arnold, Tales of the Exonerated Flea (Columbia, 1974) Chet Baker, She Was Too Good to Me (CTI, 1974) Chet Baker, Peace (Enja, 1982) Blood, Sweat & Tears, More Than Ever (Columbia, 1976) George Benson, Good King Bad (CTI, 1976) Jane Ira Bloom, Second Wind (Outline, 1980) Jane Ira Bloom, Modern Drama (Columbia, 1987) Elbow Bones and the Racketeers, New York at Dawn (Hot Shot, 2012) Brecker Brothers, Back to Back (Arista, 1976) Joe Chambers, The Almoravid (Muse, 1974) Chic, Chic (Atlantic, 1977) John Clark, Faces (ECM, 1981) Cy Coleman, The Party's On Me (RCA Victor, 1976) Hank Crawford, Wildflower (Kudu, 1973) Four Tops, Tonight (Casablanca, 1981) Bob Franke, For Real (Flying Fish, 1986) Aretha Franklin, Get It Right (Arista, 1983) Henry Gaffney, Waiting for a Wind (RCA, 1976) Henry Gaffney, On Again Off Again (Manhattan, 1978) Jerry Granelli, Another Place (veraBra, 1993) Janis Ian, Who Really Cares (Verve Forecast, 1969) Joe Jackson, Will Power (A&M, 1987) Bob James, One (CTI, 1974) Bob James, The Genie (Tappan Zee, 1983) Billy Joel, 52nd Street (Columbia, 1978) Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Doppelganger (Sire, 1983) Gershon Kingsley, First Moog Quartet (Audio Fidelity, 1970) Earl Klugh, Late Night Guitar (Liberty, 1980) Luther Vandross, Luther (Cotillion, 1976) Luther Vandross, This Close to You (Cotillion, 1977) Charlie Mariano, Seventy (veraBra, 1993) Ralph MacDonald, Sound of a Drum (Marlin, 1976) Ralph MacDonald, The Path (Marlin, 1978) Micatone, Ninesongs (No Zession, 2001) Bob Moses, When Elephants Dream of Music (Gramavision, 1983) Idris Muhammad, Boogie to the Top (Kudu, 1978) Lauren Newton, Timbre (hat, 1983) Judy Niemack, About Time (Sony, 2002) Laura Nyro, Smile (Columbia, 1976) David Pomeranz, Time to Fly (Decca, 1971) Michel Portal, Any Way (Label Bleu, 1993) Gary Portnoy, Gary Portnoy (Sony, 1992) Jim Pugh, Dave Taylor, The Pugh-Taylor Project (DMP, 1984) Dino Saluzzi, Anthony Cox, David Friedman, Rios (Intuition, 1995) Larry Schneider, So Easy (Label Bleu, 1988) Don Sebesky, Giant Box (CTI, 1973) Wayne Shorter, Odyssey of Iska (Blue Note, 1971) Horace Silver, In Pursuit of the 27th Man (Blue Note, 1973) Grace Slick, Dreams (RCA, 1980) Keith Sykes, Keith Sykes (Vanguard, 1969) Stanley Turrentine, The Sugar Man (CTI, 1975) Frankie Valli, Lady Put the Light Out (Private Stock, 1977) Grover Washington Jr., Soul Box (Kudu, 1973) Kenny Wheeler, Greenhouse Fables (Sentemo, 1992)

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Juilliard School
Employers
Berlin University of the Arts, Manhattan School of Music

People in David Friedman's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped David Friedman's

Frequently asked questions

Who is David Friedman?

American jazz percussionist

When was David Friedman born?

David Friedman was born on 10 March 1944 in New York City.

What is David Friedman's occupation?

David Friedman is a music educator, jazz musician, university teacher, composer and bandleader.

What nationality is David Friedman?

David Friedman is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: David Friedman

· Wikidata: Q1174464

· DBpedia: David Friedman (percussionist)

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). David Friedman. https://biography.guide/david-friedman-music-educator/

MLA: "David Friedman." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/david-friedman-music-educator/.

Chicago: "David Friedman." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/david-friedman-music-educator/.

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