Photo © Mephisto

"Let's be bold: The David S. Ware Quartet is the best small band in jazz today. I realize that I will almost certainly hear another quartet, or trio or quintet or octet, this week or next, that will make me want to backpedal. But every time I see Ware's group or return to the records, it flushes the competition from memory."
- GARY GIDDINS, Village Voice, Weatherbird, August 2001

DAVID S. WARE Contact / Booking Information

Steven Joerg - AUM Fidelity
PO Box 170147 Brooklyn NY 11217
tel: 718 854 2387
e.mail: 'aum' '@' 'aumfidelity.com'

European Booking : Anne Dumas - Musique en Jeu
31480 Pelleport FRANCE
tel: 33 5 61 85 71 38
fax: 33 5 61 85 71 11
e.mail: mej@tiscali.fr

http://www.davidsware.com/

Biography

David S. Ware has been playing the saxophone for over 40 years. First in New Jersey public school bands, and in informal practice sessions with Sonny Rollins as a youth in the '60s; then as part of the fertile NYC Loft Jazz era of the '70s. During this decade, he joined the Cecil Taylor Unit and Andrew Cyrille's Maono. He also worked together with drummers Beaver Harris and Milford Graves. In the early '80s he toured Europe with both Andrew Cyrille and his own trio. In mid-decade, Ware purposefully engaged himself in a period of extensive woodshedding - in order to further develop both his personal sound and his visionary group concept.

The '90s saw the full-on actualization of this group, and the recognition of David S. Ware as a true saxophone collossus. A series of ground-breaking albums by the David S. Ware Quartet were released on the Silkheart, DIW, Homestead, AUM Fidelity, and Columbia Jazz labels. Perhaps the most highly acclaimed group of the last decade, David's efforts were rewarded by being one of the very few Jazz musicians whose work was appreciated by an audience outside the narrow confines of the Jazz World. In an unprecedented coup, the 'Cryptology' album garnered the Lead Review slot in Rolling Stone Magazine. A pointed reference of this period is that writers and Jazz fans alike referred to the David S. Ware Quartet as "the most exciting jazz ensemble since the classic John Coltrane Quartet."

The band that David meticulously assembled and has kept together in order to actualize this very special music is composed of: WILLIAM PARKER — himself a cornerstone of the new music, and one of the most brilliant bass players in the world, MATTHEW SHIPP — the most consistently compelling, inventive and provocative pianist to arise in this day. Drummer GUILLERMO E. BROWN was added to the lineup in February of '99. David was quick to recognize the fire and passion of this rapidly growing musical talent.

The second album for Columbia Jazz, 'Surrendered,' was recorded in October 1999 and released in May 2000. It featured interpolations of Charles Lloyd's "Sweet Georgia Bright" and Beaver Harris' "African Drums," as well as four beautiful new compositions by Ware. Overall more gentle in spirit than anything before in his now vast oevre, 'Surrendered' fully showcased the deep sense of swing that has always been at the root of the Ware Quartet's music. Once again, the new album was hailed by elated critics and fans. The Quartet played this material live throughout the year, including performances at each of the four Bell Atlantic Jazz Festivals, culminating in a free outdoor performance at Columbia University in NYC. 10,000 attendees were held enraptured by the power, grace and melodic invention of the David S. Ware Quartet in full force.

After making two albums for Columbia, things floated there the way they floated, and ways were parted in December 2000. Wasting no time, Ware brought his Quartet into the studio in February of 2001, with yet another expansion of the sonic template. The sessions yielded the epic 'Corridors & Parallels' album, which features Matthew Shipp on synthesizer for the first time, and showcases the improvisational mastery of this tremendous group. Summer of 2001 yielded two more tours of Europe, and a very successful tour of the U.S. West Coast. The September 2001 release of 'Corridors & Parallels' was prefaced by a debut engagement at the Blue Note in NYC. Rave reviews of the summer's performances, and the new album itself, were par. 'C & P' was chosen as among the Year's Best Jazz Releases in the Village Voice, Jazz Times, Boston Globe, LA Weekly, Seattle Weekly, and the Washington City Paper.

In April 2002, the SFJAZZ organization invited David S. Ware and Quartet out to perform Ware's 're-imagining/interpolation/re-arrangement' of Sonny Rollins' 'Freedom Suite'. This piece was subsequently performed at the Le Weekend Festival/Stirling, SCOTLAND, Vision Festival/NYC, Discover Jazz Festival/Burlington VT, and Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival/Montreal, QUE. In July, AUM Fidelity brought the Quartet into the studio to record this very special work, released to the world in October 2002. Indeed. Absolutely dynamite.

... updated/further copy soon...

Photo © Mephisto

Discography

DAVID S. WARE Quartet
RENUNCIATION AUM Fidelity 2007
BALLADWARE The Blue Series/Thirsty Ear 2006
LIVE IN THE WORLD   The Blue Series/Thirsty Ear 2005
FREEDOM SUITE   AUM Fidelity 2002
CORRIDORS & PARALLELS  AUM Fidelity 2001
SURRENDERED    Columbia/Sony 2000
GO SEE THE WORLD  Columbia/Sony 1998
WISDOM OF UNCERTAINTY   AUM Fidelity 1997
GODSPELIZED.. DIW 1997
OBLATIONS AND BLESSINGS ..Silkheart 1996
DAO Homestead 1996
CRYPTOLOGY Homestead 1995
EARTHQUATION ..DIW 1994
THIRD EAR RECITATION.. DIW 1993
FLIGHT OF I ..DIW/Columbia 1992
GREAT BLISS / Vols. 1 & 2.. Silkheart 1991

DAVID S. WARE Trio
PASSAGE TO MUSIC ..Silkheart 1989

DAVID S. WARE
THREADS (David S. Ware String Ensemble) The Blue Series/Thirsty Ear 2003
LIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS Splasc(H) 2001
THE BIRTH OF A BEING.. Hat Hut 1979
FROM SILENCE TO MUSIC ..Palm 1978

This is David S.Ware's discography as a leader. For an intensively detailed, and historical listing of ALL the many recordings that David has appeared on over the years, consult Rick Lopez' The David S. Ware Sessionography