Dave Bargeron
Encyclopedia
David 'Dave' W Bargeron is an American
trombonist
and tuba
player from Athol, Massachusetts
, most famous for playing with the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He joined the group in 1970, after Jerry Hyman departed, and first appeared on the album Blood, Sweat & Tears 4
. With this group at the album Live and Improvised (1975) played jazz-rock solo on the tuba "And When I Die/One room country shack" Medley. He is often compared to trombonist James Pankow
of Chicago and Jim Pugh
of the Woody Herman
band.
He was lead trombonist with Clark Terry
's Big Band, and (from 1968-1970), played bass trombone and tuba with Doc Severinsen
's Band. His recording credits with BS&T include eleven albums. A break in their schedule allowed Dave to join the Gil Evans
Orchestra in 1972, and he remains a member of that Orchestra to this day.
Bargeron often plays a King 3B with a sterling silver bell and uses a Besson EEb tuba. Examples of his work can be heard on the BS&T songs "Go Down Gambling", "Redemption," "Snow Queen," and "No Show."
After leaving BS&T, Dave became a freelance recording and jazz artist. Based in New York City
, he has recorded with Paul Simon
, Mick Jagger
, James Taylor
, Eric Clapton
, David Sanborn
, Carla Bley
and Pat Metheny
. Dave currently records and tours internationally with the George Gruntz
Concert Jazz Band from Switzerland, the George Russell Living Time Orchestra, and was a long-time member of Jaco Pastorius' Word of Mouth Band. He also records and tours with 'Tuba Tuba', a jazz tuba band in which he plays with Michel Godard
, Luciano Biondini
, and Kenwood Dennard. 'Tuba Tuba' tours Europe and performs at various jazz festivals and master classes. He is also a charter member of Howard Johnson
's "Gravity," the 6-tuba group that has been together since 1968.
Bargeron has released several CDs, both as a soloist and in collaboration with others. He now lives in New York and has four children.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
trombonist
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
player from Athol, Massachusetts
Athol, Massachusetts
Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,584 at the 2010 census.-History:Originally called Pequoiag, the area was first settled by five families in September 1735. When the township was incorporated in 1762, the name was changed to Athol...
, most famous for playing with the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He joined the group in 1970, after Jerry Hyman departed, and first appeared on the album Blood, Sweat & Tears 4
Blood, Sweat & Tears 4
BS&T 4 is the fourth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in 1971. It peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Pop albums chart.David Clayton-Thomas left as lead vocalist to pursue a solo career after the release of BS&T 4, as did founding members Dick Halligan and Fred Lipsius...
. With this group at the album Live and Improvised (1975) played jazz-rock solo on the tuba "And When I Die/One room country shack" Medley. He is often compared to trombonist James Pankow
James Pankow
James Carter "Jimmy" Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument arranger best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago.-Early life:...
of Chicago and Jim Pugh
James E. Pugh
James Edward Pugh is a trombonist, composer, and educator. He is noted as the lead trombonist with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and Chick Corea's Return to Forever Band . For 25 years, he worked as a freelance trombonist in New York City...
of the Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
band.
He was lead trombonist with Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
's Big Band, and (from 1968-1970), played bass trombone and tuba with Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
's Band. His recording credits with BS&T include eleven albums. A break in their schedule allowed Dave to join the Gil Evans
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
Orchestra in 1972, and he remains a member of that Orchestra to this day.
Bargeron often plays a King 3B with a sterling silver bell and uses a Besson EEb tuba. Examples of his work can be heard on the BS&T songs "Go Down Gambling", "Redemption," "Snow Queen," and "No Show."
After leaving BS&T, Dave became a freelance recording and jazz artist. Based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he has recorded with Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
and Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
. Dave currently records and tours internationally with the George Gruntz
George Gruntz
George Gruntz is a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist and composer most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Phil Woods, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Mel Lewis.From 1972 to 1994 he served as artistic director for...
Concert Jazz Band from Switzerland, the George Russell Living Time Orchestra, and was a long-time member of Jaco Pastorius' Word of Mouth Band. He also records and tours with 'Tuba Tuba', a jazz tuba band in which he plays with Michel Godard
Michel Godard
Michel Godard is a French tuba player and jazz musician.Godard was admitted at the age of 18 to the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France. His ability to produce overtones and musicality leaves the listener surprised at how light a seemingly cumbersome tuba can sound...
, Luciano Biondini
Luciano Biondini
Luciano Biondini is a jazz and folk music accordion player that has appeared on the albums of various musicians, including Gabriele Mirabassi, Fratelli Mancuso, Ivano Fossati and Rabih Abou-Khalil.-References:...
, and Kenwood Dennard. 'Tuba Tuba' tours Europe and performs at various jazz festivals and master classes. He is also a charter member of Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson (jazz musician)
Howard Lewis Johnson in Montgomery, Alabama, is an American jazz musician known mainly for his work on tuba and baritone saxophone, although he also plays the bass clarinet, trumpet and other reed instruments....
's "Gravity," the 6-tuba group that has been together since 1968.
Bargeron has released several CDs, both as a soloist and in collaboration with others. He now lives in New York and has four children.
Discography
With George GruntzGeorge Gruntz
George Gruntz is a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist and composer most noteworthy for his work with artists such as Phil Woods, Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Mel Lewis.From 1972 to 1994 he served as artistic director for...
- TheatreTheatre (album)Theatre is an album by Swiss pianist, composer, and arranger George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band '83 recorded in 1983 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 1983)