David Berkman

David Berkman is an inventive pianist and composer whose music is full of subtle surprises and adventure yet grounded in the jazz tradition. His father was an amateur pianist and Berkman, after a short stint on the bass, also switched to piano. Although he gigged locally, he did not become serious about music until he attended college including a period at Berklee. Berkman moved to New York in 1985 and since then he has performed in many situations including with drummer Eliot Zigmund (with whom the pianist recorded a trio album), the Woody Herman Orchestra (touring in 1989), drummer Matt Wilson, and saxophonist Joe Lovano; he has also arranged songs for singers Eden Atwood and Lisa Michel. In 2009, Berkman released the well-regarded LIVE AT SMOKE, recorded at the legendary Upper West Side club, with the up-and-coming tenorist Jimmy Greene.