David Sancious

David Sancious was born in Long Branch, New Jersey on November 30th 1953 to Jimmie and Stelma Sancious. David’s father was an electronics engineer and his mother a school teacher.

An early interest in music was shown when at 4 years old David was able to pick out a few notes on a small plastic guitar his parents had given him, and play along to a Calypso record his father used to play frequently.

Two years later when the family relocated from Asbury Park to Belmar ,N.J. , a piano was included along with the purchase of the new house. After the boxes and furniture were brought in , his mother sat at the piano and began to play beautiful classical piano selections , much to his amazement. The effect was instantaneous . “Music became the most interesting and beautiful thing in the world to me, and being able to express all that beauty and magic was all I wanted.”

After teaching David herself for the first year, his mother made arrangement for piano lessons with a focus on classical piano repetoire. Being the youngest of three boys and having a father and mother with very different musical tastes, the house was filled with music of all genres. Everything from Mozart to James Brown on a daily basis.

Early musical influences ranged from the piano preludes of Chopin and Beethoven to the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Folk music , R&B , and Rock were equally influential . The folk music of Odetta and the blues stylings of B.B. King inspired him to take up the guitar at 9 years old. “I played acoustic guitar for a few years and made some progress. Then one day my brother came home with the first Jimi Hendrix album ( “Are You Experienced” ) and instantly I became very serious about the guitar “.

After several years of playing keyboards and guitar in Jazz , R&B , and Rock Bands on the Jersey shore area, David met Bruce Springsteen at the entrance to a club where Bruce was organizing a jam session. The result was an invitation to join a new band that Bruce was putting together. This eventually became “Bruce Springtsteen & the E Street Band”, and after recording three albums and touring the country, with Bruce, he left to form the group "Tone" and recorded several albums.

The first recordings ( “Forest of Feelings” ) in 1975, followed by (“Transformation: the Speed of Love”), (“True Stories" ), ("Just as I Thought"), and ( “The Bridge") showed David’s skills as a composer for the first time, and led to his being considered one of the most talented and sought after keyboard players in the music industry.” I’ve always been inspired and motivated by the composing aspect of music, and I’ve always thought of myself as a composer who plays well , rather than a person who is just proficient on a given instrument. The recordings attracted the attention of artist the world over. Recent recordings include ("9 Piano Improvisations"), ( "Cinema"), and ("Live in The Now").

Peter Gabriel , Sting , Bruce Springsteen, , Eric Clapton , Jeff Beck, Seal and others, have used his talents as pianist, synthesist, guitarist, arranger, and producer on recording sessions and concert tours, playing an eclectic and diverse range of music. Show less