NEA JAZZ MASTER DAVID LIEBMAN BIO

              David Liebman’s career has spanned over four decades, beginning in the early ‘70s with his "apprenticeship" period performing and recording in the groups of drummer Elvin Jones (Live At The Lighthouse) and Miles Davis (On The Corner). Since then he has lead his own groups (Lookout Farm; Quest; the Dave Liebman Group; Expansions) featuring musicians such as John Scofield, Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Adam Nussbaum, Al Foster, John Abercrombie and Vic Juris. Lieb has consistently placed among the top three in the Downbeat Critics Poll for Soprano Saxophone since 1973; winning first place in both the Downbeat and Jazz Times Critic's Poll in 2011, 2012. As well in 2011, Liebman received the NEA Masters of Jazz Award, the highest honor for jazz given by the United States government while from France he was bestowed the Order of Arts and Letters.

David has been featured on over five hundred recordings, of which he has been the leader or co-leader on two hundred with several hundred original compositions published. His repertoire is among the most eclectic of contemporary artists ranging from original adaptations of standard material (Ornette Coleman,West Side Story, Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cole Porter, Alec Wilder, Puccini, Jobim, Kurt Weill) to 20th century inspired classical music; from fusion to his own big band and free jazz ensembles. Notable performances featuring Liebman as soloist in a contemporary classical setting include the groups Klangforum (Vienna, Austria), the Ensemble Intercontemporain (Paris,France) and Avanti (Helsinki, Finland).

In the education field he is a renowned lecturer producing several instructional DVDs and books, most notably: "Self Portrait of A Jazz Artist"-"A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony"-"Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound,” (multiple translations in other languages). Liebman’s published biography is “What It Is-The Life Of A Jazz Artist” (Scarecrow Press). In addition Liebman has published multiple chamber music pieces (Advance Music, Germany) for a variety of instrumentations. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ); Visiting Artist at both the Global Jazz Institute-Berklee College of Music and the University of Toronto as well as Artist in Residence at the Manhattan School of Music (NYC).

AWARDS

-Jazz Educators Network (JEN) award as Legend of Jazz (2013)

-Performance of the Year (2011)-Dave Liebman Group-All About Jazz/ NYC Jazz

-National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters award (2011)

-First place Soprano Sax from Jazz Times and Downbeat Critic's Poll (2011-12); Jazz Ed Reader’s Poll 2015; Jazz Times Critic’s Poll (2015)

-Musician of the Year-All About Jazz, New York City (2010)

-Best Record of the Year (“Turnaround”)-German Journalists Assoc (2010)

-Order of Arts and Letters (France 2009)

-Jazz Journalists Award for Soprano Saxophone (U.S. 2007)

-Grammy nominations for performance of Best Big Band arrangement (2004); Best Jazz Solo (1998)

-Induction into the International Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame (2000)

-Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki, Finland 1997)

-Founder (1989)/Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (network of schools representing forty countries)

-Two National Endowment of the Arts grants for performance/composition (1991/1981)