David "Dave" Shapiro (April 24, 1952 – February 16, 2011) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
musician. He played double bass.
[Jon Potter]
"Local jazz luminary Dave Shapiro mourned"
in '' Brattleboro Reformer''. March 4, 2011.
Life
Born and raised in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, David Shapiro graduated from
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. He became a busy New York freelancer, playing regularly with such jazz legends as
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...
,
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
,
Lee Konitz
Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...
,
Howard McGhee,
Mel Lewis and singers
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
Anita O'Day, and
Chris Connor
Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer.
Biography
Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shir ...
. He performed with
Jackie Cain and
Roy Kral in the
Newport Jazz Festival in
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
. He proved his versatility as a member of the house band at
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang.
Early years
Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...
's and the Metropolitan Bopera House.
In 1987 Shapiro moved to
Townshend, Vermont, where he taught and played with various musicians of the jazz scene in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and Western
, as
Attila Zoller, Howard Brofsky, Scott Mullett, Paul Arslanian, Bob Weiner, Jay Messer, Eugene Uman, Draa Hobbs, Claire Arenius, and Tom McClung. With trumpet player Steve Sonntag he led a trio, which became later a sextet. In 1997 they recorded the live album ''Monk, Duke & Mingus'' Shapiro also played in recording sessions with Woody Herman (''World Class'', 1982),
Danny D'Imperio
Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to:
People
* Danny Altmann, British immunologist
*Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer
*Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...
(''Blues For Philly Joe'', 1991),
Joshua Breakstone
Joshua Breakstone (born July 22, 1955) is an American jazz guitarist.
Breakstone came into contact with the music business early in life through his parents and siblings. His sister was a lighting technician at the Fillmore East theater, where ...
(''
Evening Star'', 1988), Howard Brofsky (''73 Down'', 2000), and
Michael Musillami (''Perception'', 2000).
Shapiro taught math and jazz history at Westfield State College and at Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts. He instituted his own educational programs and conducted jazz ensembles. He also taught Jazz History at the
Vermont Jazz Center
The Vermont Jazz Center is a school for jazz founded by guitarist Attila Zoller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Zoller started the center as the Attila Zoller Jazz Clinics in 1974. The center was renamed Vermont Jazz Center when he incorporated the busin ...
and conducted the "piano trio" ensembles at the VJC's Summer Jazz Workshop.
Death
On February 16, 2011, Shapiro was found frozen to death in his home. His death certificate states the manner of death was an accident, “due to cold environmental temperatures.” An autopsy was done and determined the cause of death to be “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and psychiatric illness (type unspecified),” with no further details, although he apparently had a history of erratic behavior and severe psychiatric problems during the last years of his life and, as a result, had been hospitalized several times. At the time his body was discovered, there was no heat in his house and his phone had been turned off.
References
External links
"When a bass player dies..."at ''greenmountaindaily.com''
''Credits AllMusic''''David Shapiro at Discogs''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, David
Post-bop double-bassists
Hard bop double-bassists
Mainstream jazz double-bassists
American jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
American session musicians
1952 births
2011 deaths
American male jazz musicians
Brooklyn College alumni