David King (born June 8, 1970) is an American drummer from

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He is known for being a founding member of the jazz groups The Bad Plus (with Reid Anderson) and Happy Apple (with

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. ...

and Erik Fratzke). King is also active in many other projects including free jazz collective Buffalo Collision with NYC "downtown" musicians Tim Berne and

Hank Roberts Hank Roberts (born March 24, 1954, Terre Haute, Indiana) is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown Ne ...

and the electronic art/pop group Halloween, Alaska. He is also a member of the noise/prog band The Gang Font with former

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...

bassist

Greg Norton Gregory James Norton (born 13 March 1959) is an American bassist, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü. Early life Norton was born in Davenport, Iowa, as this was the most local Catholic hospital to his family’s home in Rock Island, Illinois. He ...

. He also has a jazz quintet called Dave King Trucking Company.

Career

King has recorded or performed with Bill Frisell, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman, Chris Speed, Ursus Minor (with Tony Hymas, Jef Lee Johnson, François Corneloup, Jeff Beck, Julian Lage, Boots Riley and Dead Prez), Joe 'Guido' Welsh, Viktor Krauss, Matt Maneri, Bill Carrothers, Anthony Cox, Atmosphere, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Benoît Delbecq, Django Bates, Meat Beat Manifesto, Craig Taborn's Junk Magic, Tchad Blake, Tony Platt, Mason Jennings, Haley Bonar, Wendy Lewis, Chris Morissey, Jim Mcneely and HR big band, Peter Lang, Craig Green and his high school big band among others. King has also written and performed for modern dance with the Mark Morris Dance Group and for fashion, composing and performing live for three seasons of designer Isaac Mizrahi's fashion week shows at Bryant Park NYC and for film with the award winning animated shorts "Bike Ride Story" and "Bike Race" by Tom Schroeder. In March 2008 King appeared with The Bad Plus on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien television show playing one of King's compositions, "Thriftstore Jewelry". In 2010 King released a solo record titled "Indelicate" on the Sunnyside label where the drummer plays duets with himself on piano aided by overdubbing in the studio. In 2012 King released a trio record of standards featuring Bill Carrothers and Billy Peterson on Sunnyside Records titled "I'll Be Ringing You". He has also released three records with The Dave King Trucking Co.: Good Old Light (2011), Adopted Highway (2014), Surrounded By The Night (2016) on Sunnyside Records. King features in the documentary 'King for Two Days' which documents a two-night concert held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN celebrating the music of Dave King and featuring performances by five of the bands he drums in. King for Two Days is an official selection for the 2012 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. He also hosts a one-hour all-jazz radio show "King's Speech" Sunday nights on

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...

KCMP KCMP (89.3 FM, ''89.3 the Current'') is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Mi ...

, and a YouTube web series called "Rational Funk".

Discography

As Leader

Solo * ''Indelicate'' (2010) * ''OK Piano'' (2025) with

Bill Carrothers Bill Carrothers (born July 13, 1964) is a jazz pianist and composer based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.Billy Peterson * ''I've Been Ringing You'' (2012) with Dave King Trucking Company * ''Good Old Light'' (2011) * ''Adopted Highway'' (2013) * ''Surrounded By The Night'' (2016) * ''Old TV'' (2023)

As Co-leader

with Happy Apple * ''Blown Shockwaves & Crash Flow'' (1997) * ''Part Of The Solutionproblem'' (1998) * ''Body Popping Moon Walking Top Rocking'' (1999) * ''Jazzercise With The Elders/E Equals What I Says It Does/God Bless Certain Portions of the USA'' (2000) * ''Please Refrain From Fronting'' (2001) * ''Youth Oriented'' (2003) * ''The Peace Between Our Companies'' (2004 Europe, 2005 North America) * ''Happy Apple Back On Top'' (2007) * ''New York CD'' (2020 digital, 2024 CD/Vinyl) with The Bad Plus * '' The Bad Plus'' (2001) * ''Authorized Bootleg: New York 12/16/01'' (2002) * '' These Are the Vistas'' (2003) * '' Give'' (2004) * ''Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo'' (2005) * '' Suspicious Activity?'' (2005) * '' Prog'' (2007) * '' For All I Care'' (2008 Europe, 2009 North America) * '' Never Stop'' (2010) * '' Made Possible'' (2012) * ''

The Rite Of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' (2014) * '' Inevitable Western'' (2014) * '' The Bad Plus Joshua Redman'' (2015) * '' It's Hard'' (2016) * '' Never Stop II'' (2018) * '' Activate Infinity'' (2019) * ''The Bad Plus.'' (2022) * ''Complex Emotions'' (2024) with Reid Anderson and Craig Taborn * '' Golden Valley Is Now'' (2019) with The Gang Font * ''The Gang Font feat. Interloper'' (2007) with Vector Families * ''For Those About To Jazz/Rock We Salute You'' (2017) with Buffalo Collision * ''(duck)'' (2008) with Broken Shadows * ''Broken Shadows'' (Vinyl 2019, CD/Digital 2021) * ''Broken Shadows Live'' (2020) with F*K*G * ''Broken Drive-In Speakers'' (1998) with Craig Green * ''Craig Green + David King'' (2008) * ''Moontower'' (2012) with Love-Cars * ''Chump Lessons'' (1998) * ''I'm Friends With All Stars'' (2000) * ''Thank You For Telling Me What I Already Know'' (2002) with Halloween, Alaska * ''Halloween, Alaska'' (2003) * ''Too Tall To Hide'' (2005) * '' Champagne Downtown'' (2009) * ''All Night The Calls Came In'' (2011) * ''Liberties'' (2013) * ''Le Centre'' (2018)

As Sideman

with Chris Speed Trio * ''Really OK'' (2014) * ''Platinum On Tap'' (2017) * ''Respect For Your Toughness'' (2019) * ''Despite Obstacles'' (2023) with Craig Taborn * '' Junk Magic'' (2004) * '' Daylight Ghosts'' (2017) * '' Compass Confusion'' (2020) with Julian Lage * '' Love Hurts'' (2019) * ''Squint'' (2021) * '' View with a Room'' (2022) * ''Layers'' (2023) * ''

Speak to Me "Speak to Me" is the first track on English rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', on which it forms an overture. Nick Mason receives a rare solo writing credit for the track, though recollections differ as to the reas ...

'' (2024) with

Bill Carrothers Bill Carrothers (born July 13, 1964) is a jazz pianist and composer based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.Chris Morrissey Quartet * ''The Morning World'' (2009) with Ursus Minor * ''Zugzwang'' (2005) with 12 Rods * '' Separation Anxieties'' (2000) * '' Lost Time'' (2002) with Armen Nalbandian * ''The Complex Relationship Between Two Simple Machines'' (2023) * ''Death, Infinity and Zero'' (2023) with Nick Roesler * Ghosting a Funeral (2023) with Margaret Glaspy * '' Echo the Diamond'' (2023)

Other appearances

*Rhea Valentine – ''Rhea Valentine'' (1995) *Tugboat – ''1981 Decor'' (1998) *Robert Skoro – ''Proof'' (2002) *

Meat Beat Manifesto Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...

– '' At The Center'' (2005) * Haley Bonar – ''Lure The Fox'' (2006) * Mason Jennings – '' Boneclouds'' (2006) *Haley Bonar – ''Big Star'' (2008) * Donna Lewis – ''Brand New Day'' (2015)

References

External links

Dave King's homepage
(with complete discography, touring schedule, and periodic blog posts)
2013 Audio Interview with Dave King from the podcast I'd Hit That
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, David 1970 births Living people Drummers from Minnesota 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians The Bad Plus members Sunnyside Records artists Intakt Records artists