Born in Darlington, England from a musical family. Dave had piano lessons from the age of eight and learnt guitar from thirteen. He joined his first band 'Exodus' at fourteen.
Dave went to Leeds College of Music, gaining the "BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz Soloist Award" whilst there. Whilst at college Dave, met singer and songwriter Adrian Snell. The result was a working partnership spanning eight years and through which he would first meet Joanne Hogg and David Fitzgerald. This partnership went on to be the founding force behind the group Iona.
Dave Bainbridge performing with Iona (2010)
Bainbridge toured the world with Iona between 1989 and 2015, releasing 13 albums. Bainbridge's career as a solo artist, keyboardist, guitarist, bouzouki player, composer, improviser, producer, arranger, teacher and sound mixer has led him into many musical genres and work with numerous artists including: Strawbs (current keyboardist), Jack Bruce, Buddy Guy, Troy Donockley (Nightwish), Nick Beggs, Gloria Gaynor, Moya Brennan, Robert Fripp, Mae McKenna, Phil Keaggy, Paul Jones, Damian Wilson, Nick Fletcher, ‘Snake’ Davis, Adrian Snell, PP Arnold, Mollie Marriott, Lifesigns (with John Young), Norman Beaker, Fred T Baker, Dave Brons, Paul Bielatowicz and many others.
Winner of the BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz soloist award (piano) and the Sam Hood Rosebowl for Outstanding Performance during his time at Leeds Music College (where he graduated with first class honours and a distinction in arranging), Bainbridge has composed soundtracks for numerous short films, TV and multimedia productions and has co-written a guitar concerto with Classic FM favourite Nick Fletcher, released on the album ‘Cathedral of Dreams’ (2009).
Bainbridge has released four solo studio albums, ‘Veil of Gossamer’ (2004), ‘Celestial Fire’ (2014), his first solo piano album ‘The Remembering’ (2016), and ‘To the Far Away’ (2021). The ‘Celestial Fire’ album led to the formation of the band of the same name in 2015 and the Celestial Fire band ’Live in the UK’ DVD/2 cd album was released in April 2017.
Bainbridge has also released two collaborative albums with Troy Donockley and two with Iona's David Fitzgerald.
Current live projects include his new band Celestial Fire, Strawbs, the Dave Bainbridge & Sally Minnear duo, Lifesigns, and occasional solo concerts. Dave was arranger & musical director for Adrian Snell’s sell out live performances in The Netherlands of his works ‘The Passion’, ‘Light of the World’ and 'Alpha and Omega', all of which feature a full band of Dutch session musicians, vocal soloists and a 60 piece choir.
Musical description
A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Bainbridge's solo material continues in the style established in Iona, fusing progressive rock, Celtic folk, classical and improvisational elements in a unique way.
A number of members of Iona have recorded solo albums, or co-operated on each others.
