David Jones
David Jones is one of the most innovative and musical drummers in the world. He has toured nationally and internationally, performing and recording across rock, pop, jazz, classical, ambient, world music, cabaret, theatre, television and improvised works.
He has played with many leading artists and ensembles, among them James Morrison, John Farnham, Stevie Wonder, John Denver, Marcia Hines, Tommy Emmanuel, Don Burrows, Debra Byrne, Rhonda Burchmore, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Larry Adler, Don McLean, the Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, The Queensland Orchestra and the West German Radio Big Band in Cologne.
David was Head of the Drum Department at the Sydney Conservatorium from 1985 to 1993. In 2000 he returned to his home town of Melbourne; soon afterwards he joined James Morrison’s sextet and toured extensively with the band for three years, before being awarded a two-year Fellowship through the Australia Council. That fellowship led to the production of the Meditations on Love CD (ABC Classics) and associated concerts. His later ABC Classics release is the solo album Colours of the Drum, a double CD with bonus DVD.
Since 2004 he has worked increasingly with symphony orchestras and in solo concert. In 2006 Tokyo composer Toshi Watanabe wrote a Drumkit Concerto especially for him. Highlights have included a solo set at the 2008 Cape Breton Drum Festival in Canada, sharing the stage with some of the world’s finest drummers. In 2010 he was awarded the Melbourne Prize for Music.
Wherever he travels, audiences respond strongly to his playing, and his reputation continues to grow on the world scene.
Artist's website: www.davidjonesdrums.com.au
Press quotes
…[David’s performance] was nothing less than a spiritual experience…to be truly transported by the power of the drum when it comes from a place of such deep intention as it does with David Jones
David Jones is, in my opinion, one of the greatest, most natural, musicians on the planet. His musicianship is mesmerising and captivating - I’ve always felt he was in a class of his own.
David Jones is featured on the following titles
Seasons of Love
A jazz trio, string orchestra and guest soloists join vocalists Gian Slater and Eddie Perfect. Graeme Lyall’s rich arrangements refresh Great American Songbook standards and other stage and screen favourites.
The Cello and the Mockingbird
Improvisations on beautiful melodies from cellist Imogen Manins with pianist Tony Gould and percussionist David Jones. Their second trio album gathers film themes, standards and original sketches, shaped in the studio through open improvisation.
Composer
Barefoot in the Sky
Barefoot in the Sky fuses ancient and contemporary practice: rhythmic and melodic, organic and electronic, choral and tribal. It moves through enough moods for several albums, in a vein the artists call ambient space-world jazz.
Quirky
Melbourne saxophonist Pete Mitchell’s debut with his quartet and guests: ten original jazz pieces that swing from funky grooves to ballads, samba and sly humour.
David Jones also appears on
Such a Sky
Such a Sky gathers live Salon performances from the Melbourne Recital Centre. Cellist Imogen Manins and pianist Tony Gould are joined by Slava Grigoryan, David Jones, Gian Slater, Riley Lee and Eugene Ughetti.
Prism
Years in the making, Tabula Rasa’s debut Prism blends thought-provoking lyrics with a strikingly original mix of classical, Celtic and jazz, coloured by Spanish influences and Brazilian rhythms.
Ya-de-ya
A laid-back nightclub scene, a smoothed-out jazz band, and Linda Cable’s strong voice pouring down like silver: this classic LP from the Melbourne jazz singer gathers seven original songs in that polished club mood.
