David Becker | |
|---|---|
 David Becker at Ambon Jazz, 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | October 20, 1961 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | MCA, Blue Moon |
| Website | davidbeckertribune |
David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute.[1][2]
David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune and toured Germany in 1984. After touring the colleges that same year, the band[3] signed with MCA and released its debut album Long Peter Madsen in 1986. In 1988, Siberian Express (MCA), produced with Ken Caillat was released and reached No. 3 on R&R and the track "Anja" reached No. 1.[4] This was followed in 1990 and 1991 by two albums, Third Time Around and In Motion.[5][6]
In 2001, the band released one of the first DVD-Audio recordings, Germerica.[7] Some of the tracks were co-produced by drummer Mark Schulman.[8] In 2004, Where's Henning reached No. 34 on the JazzWeek chart.[9] A solo album, Euroland, and a duo with jazz guitarist Joe Diorio,[10] The Color of Sound (Acoustic Music), followed in 2005.
Batavia[11] was released world wide on August 6, 2010 to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb in Japan. The compositions were influenced by Becker's mother's family in Indonesia and their internment in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. Batavia was voted one of the Best World Music recordings of 2010 by World Music Central.org.[12] In 2013 Distance Traveled was released[13] and reached No. 18 on the CMJ charts.[14] In July 2015, Becker released the solo album The Lonely Road (Acoustic Music Records). In 2018, Becker recorded a duo outing with former Ray Charles guitarist, Brad Rabuchin as a tribute to the late guitarist John Abercrombie. For John was released in June 2019.[15] A new book of 25 Guitar Etudes penned by Becker, Etudes You Can Use, was released in March 2021.[16] In August of 2021, Becker joined drummer Chris Bowman (Ornette Coleman) and bassist Jim Donica (Maynard Ferguson) to record a improvised set of music. The album, Continuum was released August 7, 2022. [17][18] Becker also released a new solo recording, Planets[19] in October 2022.
At the January 2015 NAMM Show, Heritage Guitars unveiled the David Becker H- 575 Signature model.[20]
Becker also appears on the Colbie Caillat album, Breakthrough[21] as well as her album All of You. He produced an Attila Zoller tribute album released by Enja in 2015. The album includes Ron Carter, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, and John Abercrombie.[22] In September 2019, Becker appeared in a podcast[23] together with Country legend Vince Gill.
