"BURNING..." Odd Meter JIMI HENDRIX Jazz BIG BAND




"So Hendrix-Round 2... and "OMG, I've Started A Big Band!!! I had long been working on a jazz treatment of Jimi Hendrix's "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp" and started playing with the idea of scoring it for large ensemble. Once I got into, I was hooked. So my first real big band arrangement in decades just seemed to appear. Followed by the thought - "Oh dear, I'm going to need players... lots of players"

So many calls & emails & Facebook messages later, I had players... some old friends and many guys that I'm still yet to meet in person. I sent them all music and stuff to play-a-long to and they graciously sent back stunning performances captured as audio and video. So this video is the record of our collective efforts. Hope you like it!!!"



For more more new music from David, go to David's YouTube Channel



Jimi Hendrix "Foxy Lady" - An Odd Meter Jazz REMIX




"My love of Jimi Hendrix’s music goes way back… as does my love of odd meters in jazz. So this remix is my first attempt at bringing those two passions together into the same production.

So I did my best to re-imagine Jimi's Foxy Lady as a bluesy, cool jazz piece - 3 horns, vibes and the rest of the rhythm section - but, of course, in 21/8. Besides Jimi's vocal, this one's all me playing/programming all of the parts"



For more videos of David, go to David's YouTube Channel



BEING FREE ...70's Jazz Fusion with Turbulence




"Turbulence was a large ensemble, jazz fusion band Craig Pallett and I co-lead in the Los Angeles area throughout the mid to late 70's. "Being Free" - a composition of mine - was part of a demo recording that the band recorded at Music Grinder Studio in the fall of 1976.

I recently took on the task of remixing and mastering this from the original 8-track multitrack tapes. Great to hear it again - all polished up - after all these years."



For more videos of David, go to David's YouTube Channel



May The 4th Be With You




"So depending on who you ask, some people like to think of May 4 (5/4) as a day to celebrate Star Wars. While, of course, us more odd meter jaxx music inclined folks have been know to refer to it as Dave Brubeck Day? So I figured... how about a bit of both - kind of all smooshed together... with a little Yoda's Theme in 7/4 thrown in for good measure.

This performance is from a clinic on odd meters I had the great pleasure of doing at Cal Poly Pomona in 2020 just lierally days before everything shut down. I really hope to get back to doing more of those at some point..."







DON ELLIS - LIVE IN INDIA CD!!


Don Ellis Live in India CD

Don Ellis traveled to India to perform two concerts in Bombay (now Mumbai), India in Janurary of 1978 with a small group consisting of Emilie Diehl, vocals; Randy Kerber, keyboards; Leon Gaer, bass; and David on drums. The recent unearthing of a tape of those concerts, combined with David's production, restoration, editing and mastering work, along with the efforts of Ellis historian Ken Orton and Gary Gilles of Sleepy Night Records now allows those performances to finally be shared.

"I remember at the time being so happy and honored to be able to make this trip to India with Don. His love of Indian Music was so great, and I knew how much this trip (his only trip to India) meant to him. It was such a joy to see him greeted in India with so much respect and recognition; and to just be with him as we watched the many Indian Music concerts at the festival, took lessons with local players, shopped for instruments, and just explored the people and the culture of that fascinating land. A land that had given birth to a music that he obviously loved so much... music that was such a large influence on his music... that I loved so much.

Now some thirty years later, I'm honored again at being able to help bring this music to all of Don's fans that couldn't be with us in Bombay back in the '78. In light of the fact that Don wrote so much music and so little of it, particularly in his last few years, got recorded, I'm thrilled that we are able to bring to light five compositions that have never been released before in any form." - David


Don Ellis in India - Don performing odd meter jazz solo Don Ellis in India - Emile, David, Leno and Randy in performance at Jazz Yatra Don Ellis in India - David Crigger performing at the 1978 Jazz Yatra Festival in Bombay, India with jazz, odd meter pioneer, Don Ellis more pics

"Don Ellis - Live in India" is a limited pressing CD only available from Sleepy Night Records directly - for more info, audio samples or to order click here



LOTSA STICKS!




"Needed to record a little "Stomp-like" stick clicking segment for a project - so I hit the garage with my laptop, a couple of mics and an ipod containing the guide track and proceeded to literally hit the garage... many, many times... 40 passes in less than 30 minutes! So this is a little compilation of many of those passes - one on top of another."

For more videos of David, go to David's YouTube Channel



TRANSVALUE - Soundcheck





A little sampling of the soundcheck for the May 26, 2010 Los Angeles performance at the Blast Phemy 5 event.

For more videos of David with Transvalue and others - go to David's YouTube Channel



TRANSVALUE - Wed. May 26 - LIVE!


Transvalue LIVE!
IN HOLLYWOOD at the CINEFAMILY SILENT MOVE THEATER

B L A S T    P H E M Y    5

8:00pm - Wed. May 26, 2010

featuring - Chuck Britt, Vocals/Poems/Verbal Expressions • Michael Vlatkovich, Trombone/Compostions
David Crigger, Drums/Percussion • Vinny Golia, Woodwinds • William Roper, Tuba
Domenic Genova, Acoustic & Electric Bass • Wayne Peet, Keyboards

with guest video artist - Steve Shoffner

Tickets are $13 from brownpapertickets.com

more info - http://www.newtownarts.org/shows/10_blast_phemy_5/index.php

for more about the music of Transvalue - scroll down to the mp3 sampler below or go to www.transvalue.info

Cinefamily is at 611 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles (323) 655-2510



STU GOLDBERG - Trio plus Strings Album ReIssued!


Like so many great albums on the MPS label, the dream of ever seeing this album (that was never released in the USA) released on CD had long since faded. But with a marvelous turn of events, that is also responsible for the long-overdue CD debut of Don Ellis' Soaring album, that has all changed.

Eye of the Beholder features Stu Goldberg's compositions, arrangements and piano playing along with Jim Lacefield on bass and David on drums; augmented by a string quartet, and guest appearances by Stu's brother, Ken on woodwinds, and Lee Pastora on Congas.

As John Kelman recently wrote on AllAboutJAzz.com, "Eye of the Beholder is an album that should have garnered Goldberg significant acclaim; perhaps this beautifully remastered reissue will do what the original didn't." "I just hope a few more folks this side of the pond finally get to hear it" - dc

For more info, click here.



New Burt Bacharach CD - LIVE @ THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE


Burt Sydney CD


"Early last year, Burt decided it was time to make a more definitive, complete recording of his concert show - at least, more so than we've done in the past. Obviously the great time we had the summer before performing with the Sydney Symphony was a large factor in his choice to return to the Sydney Opera House to record this new CD."

For more info, click here.



MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL with Milcho Leviev


Monterey - Milcho and DC 1
At the 2008 Monterey Jazz Festival preimere of the Don Ellis tribute film, Electric Heart, pianist Milcho Leviev invited David to join in an impromptu duet of some Don Ellis classics.

"What better place to screen a film about Don Ellis than at the site of his orchestra's 1967 national debut... the Monterey Jazz Festival! Milcho was scheduled to play a solo piano "warm-up" set prior to the screening and after hearing that I was planning to attend, called to see if I would join him in what turned out to be a very fun and VERY intimate performance of some of our favorite Don Ellis compositions. For a drummer, acoustic piano and a single snare drum - it doesn't get much more intimate than that! Of course, nobody plays Don's music with as much depth and passion as Milcho, so it was a huge pleasure to celebrate Don and his music with him, sans rehearsal or preperation... just the two of us."

For more info, pics and video, click here.



Transvalue Book III - AVAILABLE NOW!

Transvalue3 CD Cover 130x130


"Possibly the most exciting recording project I 've ever been involved with..."

The progressive, dramatic, irreverent large ensemble compositions and playing of trombonist, Michael Vlatkovich, plus the uniquely personal, quite esoteric spoken word performances of Chuck Britt combined with David's contributions not only on drums and percussion, but as producer, engineer and mixer as well. Overall the kind of dramatic, stylistically-unbound music that David thrives on.
For more info, go to www.transvalue.info

CD's are available now from Amazon and the Transvalue web-store.

Give it a listen here...



Great time with the DON ELLIS REUNION BAND!



Over the last couple of years, Milcho Leviev has led a bunch of Don Ellis alumni in a handful of concerts celebrating Don's music.

On Oct. 15th, David had the great pleasure of joining in the festivities. A wonderful time was had by the players and audience alike!



from the LA Times - "The soloists -- especially drummer Dave Crigger, handling the difficult task of propelling a large ensemble through shifting arrays of rhythm; saxophonists Fred Selden, Ann Patterson and Gary Herbig; trumpeter John Daversa; and the ever-inventive Leviev -- were as commendable for their articulation as for their imagination."

To see the entire review and larger pics, etc - click here






PASSPORT at MONTREUX JAZZFEST on YouTube


Outside a few European TV broadcasts, this is pretty much unseen footage... David's 1980 performance with Klaus Doldinger and Passport at the Montreux Jazz Fetival in Switzerland... pretty much in its entirety! This performance also the core of Passport's Lifelike 2CD set - which until it's recent reissue was very hard to find outside of Germany. More about Lifelike and David's other Passport recordings



BURT BACHARACH LIVE RECORDING at Sydney Opera House




On his recent Jan/Feb '08 tour of Australia and Japan, Burt Bacharach and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra decided to colloborate on a "live" recording at the Sydney Opera House with a CD expected for release later this fall.

Pictured in front of the Opera House: (from left to right) Josie James (vocals), Scott Weatherspoon (sound), John Pagano (vocals), Tom Ehlen (trumpet), Burt Bacharach, David Coy (bass), Rob Shrock (keyboards), Donna Taylor (vocals), DC, Sue Main (road manager), Dennis Wilson (woodwinds)


DRUMMER CAFE feature


Drummer Cafe - an online meeting place for drummers worldwide, novice to professional, recently designated David a "Honorary VIP Member". As a result the Cafe's owner, Nasville drummer/percussionist Bart Elliott, put together a great page featuring David and his work. Check it out here



See and hear David on...

YouTube

David's Youtube Channel has become the focal point for all of the new music he is producing. Please visit and if you choose, press like, subscribe, ring the bell and leave comments as that is the kind of support that will help the channel reach a wider and larger audience!



Let David help you with your next project...
Recent News...