David Friesen (born May 6, 1942) is 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

bassist. He plays

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

and electric upright bass.

Career

Friesen began playing bass while serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He played with John Handy and Marian McPartland and following this, with Joe Henderson; in 1975, he toured in Europe with Billy Harper. His first album as a session leader appeared that year. In 1976, he began collaborating with guitarist John Stowell; the pair would work together often. He appeared with Ted Curson at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1977. Following this, he worked with Ricky Ford, Duke Jordan,

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, and Paul Horn. His 1989 album ''Other Times, Other Places'' reached No. 11 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Top Jazz Albums chart. He has also played with Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Garrett, and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Personal life

Friesen is the younger brother of actress Dyan Cannon, and the uncle of actress Jennifer Grant. He is the son of Ashkenazi Jewish mother Claire (''née'' Portnoy) and Canadian

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

father Ben Friesen. He was married to Kirsten Friesen from 1964 until her death in 2022; they had three children. He has since been remarried to Natalie Digtyar, a fashion designer from the Czech Republic.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Color Pool'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, 1975) * ''Star Dance'' ( Inner City, 1976) * ''Waterfall Rainbow'' (Inner City, 1977) * ''Through the Listening Glass'' (Inner City, 1978) * ''Other Mansions'' (Inner City, 1979) * ''Paths Beyond Tracing'' ( SteepleChase, 1980) * ''Heart to Heart'' (Golden Flute, 1980) * ''Storyteller'' (

, 1981) * ''Yet to Come'' with Linc Chamberland (

, 1981) * ''Voices'' (Westwind, 1983) * ''Amber Skies'' (

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, 1983) * '' Encounters'' with

(Muse, 1984) * ''Inner Voices'' (Global Pacific, 1987) * ''Other Times, Other Places'' (Global Pacific, 1989) * ''Departure'' (Global Pacific, 1990) * ''Long Trip Home'' (ITM Pacific, 1992) * ''In Concert'' with Denny Zeitlin (ITM Pacific, 1992) – live * '' Two for the Show'' (ITM Pacific, 1994) * ''1･2･3'' (Burnside, 1994) * '' Remembering the Moment'' with Eddie Moore, Jim Pepper, Julian Priester &

( Soul Note, 1994) – rec. 1987 * ''The Spirit of Christmas'' with Jeannie Hoffman (Burnside, 1994) * ''Ancient Kings'' with Airto Moreira, Gary Barone (Shamrock, 1994) * ''Returning'' with Glen Moore (Burnside, 1995) * ''Three to Get Ready'' (Summit, 1995) * ''Upon the Swing'' (Shamrock, 1996) * ''Four to Go'' with John Gross, Gary Barone, Alan Jones (ITM Pacific, 1996) – rec. 1995 * ''Facing the Wind'' with Leszek Możdżer (Power Bros, 1996) * ''Castles and Flags'' (Shamrock, 1996) * ''Still Waters'' with Ralf Illenberger, Ulrike Dinter (Shamrock, 1997) * ''Tomorrow's Dream'' (Shamrock, 1998) * ''Live at Jazz Bakery'' with Denny Zeitlin (Intuition, 1999) – live rec. 1996 * ''Grace'' with Jeff Gardner (Khaeon, 2000) * ''Made in Berlin'' with Uwe Kropinski (ITM, 2001) VD-Video* ''With You in Mind'' with Gary Versace (Summit, 2001) * ''The Name of a Woman'' (Intuition, 2001) CD* ''Midnight Mood: Live in Stockholm'' (Intuition, 2004) – live rec. 2002 * ''Made in Istanbul'' with Uwe Kropinski (ITM, 2004) * ''Connection'' (ITM, 2006) * ''Christmas at Woodstock'' ( West Wind, 2006) * ''Circle Of Three'' (ITM, 2009) * ''Brilliant Heart'' (ITM, 2013) – rec. 2012 * ''Morning Star'' (Color Pool Music, 2014) * ''Textures'' with Christian Hassenstein, Joost Lijbaart (DJAMtones, 2014) * ''Where the Light Falls'' ( Origin, 2014) CD* ''Bactrian'' with Glen Moore (Origin, 2015) * ''Triple Exposure'' (Origin, 2016) * ''Structures'' (Origin, 2017) CD* ''Another Time Another Place'' (Rattle, 2017) * ''My Faith, My Life'' (Origin, 2018) CD* ''Interaction'' (Origin, 2019) * ''Testimony'' (Origin, 2020) * ''Passage'' with Bob Ravenscroft (Origin, 2021) * ''Day of Rest'' (Origin, 2021) – rec. 2020

As sideman

With Ted Curson * '' Jubilant Power'' (Inner City, 1976) * '' Snake Johnson'' ( Chiaroscuro, 1981) – rec. 1980 With Kenny Drew * ''

Ruby, My Dear Ruby, My Dear may refer to: * Ruby, My Dear (composition), a composition by Thelonious Monk * Ruby, My Dear (album), an album by Kenny Drew {{dab ...

'' (SteepleChase, 1980) – rec. 1977 With Ricky Ford * '' Manhattan Plaza'' (Muse, 1978) With Billy Harper * '' Black Saint'' ( Black Saint, 1975) With Duke Jordan * '' Duke's Artistry'' (SteepleChase, 1978) * '' The Great Session'' (SteepleChase, 1981) – rec. 1978 With Uwe Kropinski * ''Dancing with the Bass'' (ITM, 1989) With

* '' One Entrance, Many Exits'' (Palo Alto, 1982)

References

External links

Official Home Page
1942 births Living people American jazz double-bassists American male double-bassists Jewish American musicians American Mennonites Mennonite musicians Musicians from Washington (state) Muse Records artists SteepleChase Records artists Musicians from Tacoma, Washington Inner City Records artists Jewish jazz musicians 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Summit Records artists Origin Records artists Jazz musicians from Washington (state) 21st-century American Jews {{Washington-musician-stub