Norman David music @ All About Jazz

Updated: May 28, 2020

Born: September 24

Norman David directs, plays with and composes the music for his ensemble, The Eleventet. For almost 20 years beginning in the early 1980s, David led versions of the Eleventet in Boston, central Maine, and NYC. Among the musicians who have played with the band are George Garzone, Dick Oatts, Tim Hagans, John Fedchock, John Swana, Seamus Blake, Terell Stafford, Joe Magnarelli, Greg Hopkins. Jon Gordon, Ben Schachter, Gary Smulyan, Scott Robinson, Tom Lawton, John Hébert and Tim Horner.

In 2000, David debuted the first Philadelphia version of The Eleventet. In mid-2007, he finalized an ongoing Philadelphia roster of players, comprised of the cream of that city's jazz artists. The Eleventet is featured exclusively throughout the year at Plays and Players Theater, one of Philadelphia's venerable venues for the creative arts. Additionally, the band performs at other notable locales and events in the region. The Eleventet produces breathtaking ensemble-playing filled with monster solos. David's compositions and arrangements propel listeners down unexpected paths and through surprising twists and turns.

Norman David, a veteran of the music scenes in Boston and Philadelphia, is a prolific composer and arranger, recognized for his unmatched style and unique voice. He is also a prominent saxophonist, clarinetist, author and music educator. As leader/composer or sideman at clubs, theaters, and festivals in the U.S., Canada and Europe for many years, he has appeared with numerous jazz luminaries, as well as with various all-star ensembles. He has been awarded grants in recognition of his jazz composing from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum. He also continues to enjoy success as a composer of art music, his works having been commissioned and/or premiered by the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, the Temple University Wind Symphony, Alea III, The Network For New Music, Charles Abramovic, Jonathan Blumenfeld, Jarred Antonacci, and Dave Bozenhard.

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VICTOR L. SCHERMER - ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM ”...reed player Norman David...one of the most innovative arrangers in the business.”

DAVID ADLER - PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY ”David writes beautifully, with a unique...voice in the field of modern jazz composition.... [He] plays fierce soprano saxophone, holding up strong next to Dick Oatts, George Garzone and other world-class players.”

RJ JOHNSON - WWW.ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM ”With a seemingly endless repertoire, the band provides a unique experience...It was obvious that David's musical palette extends far beyond the realm of jazz....His style relied on the versatility of the band and ultimately allowed a more natural sound to emerge.... [The] Eleventet is one of the city's best-known jazz groups, featuring some of Philadelphia's best soloists...Each musician was well-versed in the jazz tradition and a conventional smaller group setting where the freedom to explore new musical territory was uninhibited

VICTOR L. SCHERMER - ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM ”...reed player Norman David...one of the most innovative arrangers in the business.”

GEORGE KANZLER - THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD ”...David has honed an admirably flexible little big band with an often remarkably big, expansive sound....There’s a rambunctious spirit to much of the album...that embraces fanfares, martial beats, shifting tempos, rich voicings across sections and open harmonies...Each of the 10 tracks...are distinctive...This CD definitely delivers some sounds of surprise.”

KARL STARK - PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ”The tunes often scream with swing or work through some gnarly questions as if David is answering his own riddles.”

GEORGE FENDEL - JAZZ SOCIETY OF OREGON-JAZZSCENE MAGAZINE ”David's writing is brisk, fresh, and, at times, very orchestral in nature. There is occasional dissonance, quick-paced ensemble playing, and often playful, but startling solo work....it's all David's high-flying, challenging and adventurous material...this is...vital, direct, in- your-face music...”

GLENN ASTARITA - JAZZREVIEW.COM ”...Norman David gathers a world-class ensemble, here on this winning studio session. [He] also struts his impressive soprano saxophone faculties amid his hearty dialogues with saxophonist George Garzone, trumpeter Tim Hagans and others. Seasoned with memorable hooks and articulate thematic-engineering outbreaks,...an all-telling characteristic of the leader's musicality. The program is not designed with an autocratic, music by numbers approach due to the great sensitivity and emotive aspects sprinkled throughout the program. Hence, it's an album that should stand tall amid the hordes of less spectacular endeavors.”

VICTOR L. SCHERMER - ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM ”They deliver a relentlessly swinging and ear-popping sound while at the same time offering nuances, subtleties, and creative ideas that generate interest for the more serious listener. David...plays a mean soprano saxophone...while contributing superb arrangements of originals and standards that evoke echoes of great predecessors...while maintaining a distinct sound of its own. That sound has the precision, timing, and expression of a small group along with the dynamic energy of a big band....Overall, this was a five-star show by a tight, grooving ensemble...”

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