B I O G R A P H Y

Born into a musical family in Detroit, Michigan, Dave was exposed immediately to many musical genres. With elder brothers and sisters who grew up mixing with the Motown Family and the island influences of his parents’ Trinidadian roots, the foundation of Dave’s musical talent was cultivated early.
By the young age of 15, Dave was touring the US with his brother-in-law's steel drum orchestra, “21st Century" (formerly Tripoli SteelBand), who the great Liberace embraced and toured with as a class act in their earlier years, playing classics and jazz standards. At 19, Dave and his brothers’ formed a band in Miami called “Force” which performed originals and covers of many genres and styles. From there he moved on to work with a variety of cover and original bands ranging from funk, rock and top 40 to contemporary jazz.


Within a few years, Dave began backing up a host of popular reggae recording artists such as Yellow Man, Lieutenant Stitchie, Gregory Isaacs and Papa San. Soon after, he joined another local band called “Broken Sound,” which became his home for the next few years. Broken Sound was a very progressive reggae band that infused many styles into their music, each member being well versed in their backgrounds. During his tenure with Broken Sound, the band acquired a mega fan base and interest from several labels. Though the band never recorded a full length CD, they managed to complete a single, "Spread A Little Love,” written by David and keyboard player, Rene Baly. The song was accompanied by a promo video. Broken Sound did attract the interest of the singer songwriter great, Stevie Wonder, who performed with the band on an occasion.
Still with an intense hunger to continually improve upon his drumming, Dave continued to work with a variety of musicians and bands and fine tune his skills during studio sessions. However, he began to focus more on songwriting and music production. At this time he acquired a vast knowledge of electronics. In his own band as well as others, Dave incorporated working with sequencers and loops of all types in addition to programming them. He became the "go-to" guy for electronic drum programming around town. His love for electronics prompted him into assembling a live touring rig that allows him to trigger keyboard parts, background vocals,
special effects, limitless percussion sounds and loops along with any sound imaginable to form his unique sound. Dave's ongoing commitment to drumming and music has landed him a wealth of studio sessions and touring acts such as Deborah Gibson, Kymani Marley, KC & The Sunshine Band, Lauren Hill, Billy Crystal, The Drifters, The Marveletts, Javier, Inner Circle, The Marley Boys (Ghetto Youth), Brian Howe (Bad Co), Blowfly and Martika to name but a few. Additionally, Dave has been featured in European drum magazine, Sticks, in the Nov. 1999 issue and recently in Modern Drummer’s July 2004 News Section.
Fresh off a world tour with Julian Marley, Dave is currently recording his own CD project and producing and drumming on many local and international artists’ projects, including a jazz album which he produced and played on with Rob Z which demonstrates his versatility. Dave currently endorses VicFirth sticks & Remo heads.
A few CD's Dave has worked on:
Debrah Gibson Julian Marley Javier Garcia Jonny Dread Genius