David Becker

For the officer of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, see David M. Becker. For the Brazilian footballer, see David Rambo Becker.
David Becker
David Becker at Ambon Jazz, 2011
David Becker at Ambon Jazz, 2011
Background information
Born(1961-10-20)October 20, 1961
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
GenresJazz, jazz fusion
OccupationMusician
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1986–present
LabelsMCA, Blue Moon
Websitedavidbeckertribune.com

David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute.[1][2]

Career

[edit]

David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune in 1982. In 1984, they recorded a self titled EP at Warner Brothers studios[3] and then toured Germany. After touring the US colleges for four months that same year, the band[4] signed with MCA and released its debut album Long Peter Madsen in 1986. The album was recorded and mixed by Grammy winning engineer Chet Himes [5](Christopher Cross) [6] In 1988, Siberian Express (MCA), produced with Ken Caillat was released and reached No. 3 on R&R and the track "Anja" reached No. 1.[7] This was followed in 1990 and 1991 by two albums, Third Time Around and In Motion.[8][9]

In 2001, the band released one of the first DVD-Audio recordings, Germerica.[10] Some of the tracks were co-produced by drummer Mark Schulman.[11] In 2004, Where's Henning reached No. 34 on the JazzWeek chart.[12] A solo album, Euroland, and a duo with jazz guitarist Joe Diorio,[13] The Color of Sound (Acoustic Music), followed in 2005.

Batavia[14] was released world wide on August 6, 2010 to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb in Japan. The compositions were influenced by Becker's mother's family in Indonesia and their internment in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. Batavia was voted one of the Best World Music recordings of 2010 by World Music Central.org.[15] In 2013 Distance Traveled was released[16] and reached No. 18 on the CMJ charts.[17] In July 2015, Becker released the solo album The Lonely Road (Acoustic Music Records). In 2018, Becker recorded a duo outing with former Ray Charles guitarist, Brad Rabuchin as a tribute to the late guitarist John Abercrombie. For John was released in June 2019.[18] A new book of 25 Guitar Etudes penned by Becker, Etudes You Can Use, was released in March 2021.[19] In August of 2021, Becker joined drummer Chris Bowman (Ornette Coleman) and bassist Jim Donica (Maynard Ferguson) to record a improvised set of music. The album, Continuum was released August 7, 2022.[20][21] Becker also released a new solo recording, Planets[22] in October 2022. In August 2024, Becker released Gravitationally Bound, which was recorded in Immersive Sound by Ken Caillat and Claus Trelby.[23] Becker also appeared on the cover of the October 2024 issue Jazz Guitar Today.[24]

Other projects

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At the January 2015 NAMM Show, Heritage Guitars unveiled the David Becker H- 575 Signature model.[25]

Becker also appears on the Colbie Caillat album, Breakthrough[26] as well as her album All of You. He produced an Attila Zoller tribute album released by Enja in 2015. The album includes Ron Carter, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, and John Abercrombie.[27] In September 2019, Becker appeared in a podcast[28] together with Country legend Vince Gill.

Discography

[edit]
  • David Becker Tribune EP (Warner, 1984)[29]
  • Long Peter Madsen (MCA, 1986)
  • Siberian Express (MCA, 1988)
  • Third Time Around (Bluemoon, 1990)
  • In Motion (Bluemoon, 1991)
  • Nevsky Prospekt (Pinorrekk, 1995)[30]
  • Germerica (Silverline, 2001)[31]
  • Where's Henning? (Paras, 2004)[32]
  • Euroland (Cool Springs, 2005)[33]
  • The Color of Sound(Acoustic Music, 2005)[34]
  • Leaving Argentina (Acoustic Music, 2007)[35]
  • Batavia (Acoustic Music, 2010)[36]
  • Distance Traveled (Acoustic Music, 2013)[37]
  • The Lonely Road (Acoustic Music, 2015)[38]
  • Message to Attila (Enja, 2015)[39]
  • Sounds of the World (Wonderland, 2015)[40]
  • Kiwi Dreams (Acoustic Music, 2018)[41]
  • Continuum (Acoustic Music, 2022)[42]
  • Planets (Acoustic Music, 2022)[43]
  • Gravitationally Bound (ArtistMax, 2024)[44]

Books/DVDs

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  • 2005: Getting Your Improvising Into Shape (Mel Bay)[45]
  • 2010: Playing in Shapes (Fingerprint)
  • 2013: Rhythmic Motifs for Comping and Soloing (Fingerprint)
  • 2015: Transitions to Jazz (Truefire)[46]
  • 2021: Etudes You Can Use (DBT)[47]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "David Becker - Musicians Institute". Musicians Institute. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ^ Suzi Price. "David Becker - jazzreview.com". Jazzreview.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  3. ^ ""When people say 'jazz', they get locked into 'It's not this; it's this.' I never looked at music that way": Grammy-nominated virtuoso David Becker is nurturing the future of jazz guitar – and he's encouraging them to break the rules". 2 October 2023.
  4. ^ Suzi Price. "David Becker - jazzreview.com". Jazzreview.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  5. ^ https://www.discogs.com/artist/270150-Chet-Himes [bare URL]
  6. ^ https://www.discogs.com/release/5670559-David-Becker-Tribune-Long-Peter-Madsen [bare URL]
  7. ^ "David Becker". Insidejazz.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  8. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Third Time Around". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  9. ^ Henderson, Alex. "In Motion". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "David Becker Tribune - 'Germerica' A DVD-Audio review by Stuart M. Robinson". HighFidelityReviews. 13 November 2001. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Germerica - David Becker Tribune | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  12. ^ "JazzWeek CD Releases | David Becker Tribune: Where's Henning? (Paras Recordings)". www.jazzweek.com. 8 April 2004. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  13. ^ "David Becker". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  14. ^ "A painful history retold through jazz music". Mprnews.org. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Best World Music Recordings of 2010, Editor's Picks". Worldmusiccentral.org. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  16. ^ "JazzWeek CD Releases - David Becker Tribune: Distance Traveled". Jazzweek.com. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Weekly Top Airplay: December 10, 2013". WMSE 91.7FM. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  18. ^ "For John". Amazon.
  19. ^ ""Etudes You Can Use" – David Becker | Jazz Guitar Society". 30 March 2021.
  20. ^ "The Jazz Guitar Life Podcast: Ep 1 with David Becker – Jazz Guitar Life".
  21. ^ "Continuum by David Becker, Chris Bowman & James Donica".
  22. ^ "Planets". Spotify.
  23. ^ https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/qa-david-becker-claus-trelby-on-mixing-gravitationally-bound-in-dolby-atmos/?srsltid=AfmBOoq3FplJn68HGsEXXkPHAXoMK8g-Psa5T3yZlp4KP0eh_lGWY85l
  24. ^ https://jazzguitartoday.com/2024/10/creating-sonic-landscapes-with-david-becker/
  25. ^ GoLectures.com. "Heritage Guitar - David Becker Signature Model - Demo - Part 1". GoLectures. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  26. ^ "David Becker - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  27. ^ "David Becker Interview 26th March 2014". Jazzguitarsociety.com. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  28. ^ "Norman's Rare Guitars, the Podcast: Vince Gill with David Becker on Apple Podcasts".
  29. ^ ""When people say 'jazz', they get locked into 'It's not this; it's this.' I never looked at music that way": Grammy-nominated virtuoso David Becker is nurturing the future of jazz guitar – and he's encouraging them to break the rules". 2 October 2023.
  30. ^ https://www.discogs.com/release/8076883-David-Becker-Tribune-Nevsky-Prospekt [bare URL]
  31. ^ "Germerica - David Becker Tribune | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  32. ^ "Where's Henning? - David Becker, David Becker ... | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  33. ^ "David Becker: Euroland album review @ All About Jazz". 24 October 2005.
  34. ^ "The Color of Sound - Dave Becker | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  35. ^ "Leaving Argentina by David Becker Tribune on Apple Music".
  36. ^ "Batavia - David Becker, David Becker Tribune |... | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  37. ^ "Distance Traveled by David Becker Tribune on Apple Music".
  38. ^ https://www.discogs.com/release/7842839-David-Becker-The-Lonely-Road [bare URL]
  39. ^ "Message to Attila: The Music of Attilla Zoller... | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  40. ^ https://www.discogs.com/release/13768129-David-Becker-Sounds-Of-The-World [bare URL]
  41. ^ "Kiwi Dreams - Single by David Becker on Apple Music".
  42. ^ "Continuum by David Becker, Chris Bowman & James Donica on Apple Music".
  43. ^ "Planets by David Becker on Apple Music".
  44. ^ https://immersiveaudioalbum.com/product/gravitationally-bound-david-becker-5-1-flac-atmos-mkv-mp4/?srsltid=AfmBOoqrmbKmkdUc9GbVubYLuqmgaguU3hJvHq1z4AJb32qb54GvYu6g
  45. ^ Lee Prosser. "Getting Your Improvising Into Shape by David Becker - jazzreview.com - Your Jazz Music Connection". Jazzreview.com. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  46. ^ "Transitions to Jazz - David Becker - Guitar Lessons - TrueFire".
  47. ^ ""Etudes You Can Use" – David Becker | Jazz Guitar Society". 30 March 2021.
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