Bios

SHORT PRESS VERSION

NEA Jazz Master (2011) David Liebman’s career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the early 1970s as the saxophone/flautist in both the Elvin Jones and Miles Davis Groups, continuing as a bandleader since. He has played on over five hundred recordings with nearly two hundred under his leadership and co-leadership. In jazz education he is a renowned lecturer and author of several milestone books: Self Portrait Of A Jazz Artist, A Chromatic Approach To Jazz Harmony And Melody,  Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound (translated into multiple languages), in addition to teaching DVDs, journalistic contributions to periodicals and published chamber music. Lieb‘s autobiography What It Is-The Life Of A Jazz Artist (Scarecrow Press) is a fascinating look into Lieb’s career. His bands over the years have included noted musicians such as John Scofield, Richie Beirach, Bob Moses, Billy Hart and others. The current group Expansions features some of the best of the younger generation.  Lieb is the Founder and Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) existing since 1989, which is a worldwide network of schools from nearly 40 countries. Liebman’s awards, besides the NEA honor include the Jazz Educators Network (JEN) Legends of Jazz (2013); the Order of Arts and Letters (France 2009); Jazz Journalist’s award for Soprano Saxophone (2007); Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Solo (1998); Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Academy (Finland-1997).  He is currently teaching at the Manhattan School of Music and a guest lecturer at Berklee College of Music. Dave has consistently placed in the top positions for Soprano Saxophone in the Downbeat, Jazz Times and JazzEd polls since 1973.


 4-im-Image_name-8760“David Liebman has the ability to touch the soul seeking from the wayward horn an extraordinary depth of emotion and dramatic range. His cantabile style, as identifiable as a human voice in its emotional tone and dramatic role playing, may in a given solo, conjure up anguish, ecstasy, anger, fear, hilarity or haughtiness. Liebman’s music is storytelling of a very high order-form, content, accent, color and mood are all in place, on cue. ”
Downbeat Magazine

Awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master (2011); the highest honor granted for jazz by the U.S. government.

FULL BIOGRAPHY

NEA JAZZ MASTER, saxophonist David Liebman was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 4, 1946. After contracting polio as a small child, he began classical piano lessons at the age of nine and clarinet/saxophone by twelve. His interest in jazz was sparked by seeing John Coltrane perform live in New York City clubs such as Birdland, Village Vanguard and  the Half Note. Throughout high school and college, Liebman pursued his jazz interest by studying with saxophone guru Joe Allard (other Allard alumni are Eddie Daniels, Mike Brecker, Steve Grossman, Harry Carney) as well as jazz musicians Lennie Tristano and Charles Lloyd. Upon graduation from New York University (with a degree in American History), he began to seriously devote himself to the full time pursuit of being a jazz artist.

In the early 1970s, Liebman took the leading organizational role as Founder and President of Free Life Communication, a cooperative of several dozen young musicians. Free Life became an integral part of the fertile New York “loft” jazz scene in this period and was funded by the New York State Council of the Arts with a residence in the Space for Innovative Development that also housed several other famous performing groups, most notably the Alwin Nicolais Ballet Company, which lead to collaborative projects during this period.

After one year spent with Ten Wheel Drive, one of the early jazz fusion groups and performing with his first mentor, drummer Pete LaRoca, Lieb secured the coveted saxophone/flute position in the group of John Coltrane’s ex-drummer, Elvin Jones. Within two years, Liebman reached the zenith of his apprenticeship period when the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis hired him. These years from 1970 thru 1974 were filled with tours, recordings and the incredible experience gained by being on the band stand with two masters of jazz. At the same time, Liebman began exploring his own music-first in the Open Sky Trio with Bob Moses and then with pianist Richie Beirach in the group Lookout Farm. This group recorded for the German based ECM label as well as A&M Records and touring the U.S., Canada, India, Japan and Europe, winning Group Deserving of Wider Recognition in the Downbeat Critics Poll (1976).

In 1977, Liebman did a world tour with pianist Chick Corea followed by the formation of the David Liebman Quintet with John Scofield as featured sideman. After several world tours and recordings by the quintet over three years, he reunited with Richard Beirach in both the duo format and Quest in 1981. Beginning with bassist George Mraz and drummer Al Foster, the group solidified with the addition of bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart. Through 1991 the group recorded seven CDs, toured extensively and did many workshops with students worldwide, garnering high critical praise worldwide. (The group has reunited for special tours and recordings since 2005.)

From 1991 through 2012, the Dave Liebman Group featuring guitarist Vic Juris toured and recorded nearly twenty CDs representing a very eclectic direction that ranged from jazz standards to Puccini arias, adaptations from the John Coltrane and Miles Davis repertoires, as well as original compositions in styles ranging from world music to fusion and free jazz, always maintaining a repertoire that balanced the past, present and future.

Over the past decades, Lieb has often been featured with top European musicians such as Joachim Kuhn, Daniel Humair, Paolo Fresu, Jon Christensen, Bobo Stenson, Michel Portal, Wolfgang Reisinger and Jean-Paul Celea among others. His reputation in Europe has led to big band and radio orchestra performances with the WDR in Koln, Germany; NDR in Hamburg, HR Big Band in Frankfurt, the Metropole Orchestra, Netherlands. Also as a result of Liebman’s eclecticism he has also been featured with progressive classical groups like Klangforum in Vienna, Avanti from Helsinki, Finland and most notably with theEnsemble Intercontemporain from Paris….eventful because it was the first time a jazz improviser was invited to play with the prestigious group founded by Pierre Boulez. On all occasions the music was specially commissioned to feature Lieb’s unique soprano saxophone style.

David has been featured on over five hundred recordings, of which he has been the leader or co-leader on nearly two hundred with several hundred original compositions written and recorded. His artistic output has ranged from straight ahead classic jazz to chamber music; from fusion to avant garde and world music. Other ongoing performing/recording combinations include the group Different But the Samefeaturing saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, drummer Jim Black and bassist Tony Marino; the “We3” trio with bassist/composer extraordinaire Steve Swallow and long time Lieb associate Adam Nussbaum on drums; duo work with both pianists Phil Markowitz and Marc Copland.

His newest group Expansions formed in 2013 features musicians from the new generation of jazz players living in New York; Bobby Avey on piano, Matt Vashlishan on reeds, Alex Ritz on drums along with the perennial Tony Marino on bass. The music of this group reflects current trends and styles being played by the new crop of jazz players.

Lieb’s published materials include a wide variety of books considered classics in the field as well as instructional DVDs and chamber music (Aebersold Publications, Caris Music and Advance Music): Self Portrait of A Jazz Artist, A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony And Melody, Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound, several of which have been translated into multiple languages. Liebman’s biography is titled What It Is-The Life Of A Jazz Artist in conversation with author extraordinaire Lewis Porter (Scarecrow Press).

His teaching activities at universities and in clinic settings have taken him literally around the world as a result of his varied musical directions and expertise on several instruments, along with an ability to articulate the intricacies of the jazz language, aesthetic and technique. Over the years, he has regularly received grantees to study with him funded by the NEA (U.S.), the Canadian Arts Council, as well as arts councils of numerous European countries. In 1989 he founded the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ), an organization dedicated to networking educators and students from international jazz schools through periodic meetings, exchange programs and newsletters. Liebman presently serves as the Artistic Director of the IASJ and a teacher at the Manhattan School of Music, NYC; Guest Lecturer at the Global Jazz Institute at the Berklee School in Boston. He has consistently placed among the top three finalists of the Downbeat Critics Poll since 1973 in the Soprano Saxophone category, gaining the top place several times in polls conducted by the magazines Jazz Ed and Jazz Times. Lieb is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki, Finland); the Order of Arts and Letters (France); and the NEA Jazz Master award which is the highest accolade granted by the U.S. government in the jazz field (2011).

AWARDS

    • 2018Juno nomination (Canada) for Best Jazz Album: Live at U of T with Mike Murley
    • 2016: Education Update Distinguished Leader in Education
    • 2015: Jazz Ed Magazine Reader’s Poll Winner- Soprano Saxophone
    • 2011: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Masters of Jazz
    • 2011: First place Soprano Sax category Jazz Times and Downbeat Critics’s Poll
    • 2011: DL Group – Best Live Performance All About Jazz and NY Jazz
    • 2010: Jazz Man of the Year – All About Jazz, New York City
    • 2010: Best Record of The Year-German Jazz Critics for Turnaround – Liebman Group Plays the Music of Ornette Coleman
    • 2009: Order of Arts and Letters from the French government
    • 2007: Jazz Journalist’s Award for Best Soprano Sax
    • 2005: Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Grant to individual artists
    • 2004: Grammy nomination for performance of Jim McNeely’s arrangement of “Sing, Sing, Sing”, from Beyond The Line– Dave Liebman Big Band (Omnitone)
    • 2001: Fred Waring Award from Celebration of the Arts, which organizes a yearly festival in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania where Liebman resides for outstanding contributions to the arts and community
    • 2000: Inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Association of Jazz Educators for contributions to jazz pedagogy
    • 1998: Grammy nomination in the category of Best Jazz Solo for the recording of “My Favorite Things” from Thank You, John (Arkadia Records)
    • 1997: Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; the first ever given to a jazz artist
    • 1991: National Endowment of the Arts grant for performance
    • 1988: Record of the Year from the French Jazz Academy for Homage to Coltrane (Owl Records)
  • 1981: National Endowment of the Arts grant for composition

EDUCATIONAL POSITIONS

Founder (1989)/Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ)
Member of advisory board: Jazz Education Abroad
Teacher at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City
Lecturer at the Global Jazz Institute – Berklee College, Boston, USA

SELECTED PRESS QUOTES:

“NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman has decoded and developed numerous forms of language over the course of the past 50 years, exploring and expanding the boundaries of jazz while establishing himself as a guiding light in the music.”
Dan Bilawsky – Jazz Times

Dave is not only a great saxophonist and educator, but he is one of the most fascinating streewise intellectuals I have ever known. His every observation is original, worthy and fascinating. -Michael Cuscuna

“Yet Liebman upped the drama once more, playing an extended solo accompanied only by Spencer’s drums. Without bass and piano, Liebman sounded practically airborne, a master musician of still unstoppable power.”
Howard Reich – Chicago Tribune

Soprano, tenor and flutist Dave Liebman has recorded many albums during the past 50 years, ranging from Coltranish explorations and free form interplay to special standards projects. Whether playing unaccompanied solos or with a big band, Liebman can always be relied upon to create inventive improvisations.
Scott Yanow – LA Jazz Scene

“His (Liebman’s) explorations are done with a deep awareness of and a loving appreciation for the historic legacy, which is balanced by his openness to all things. Driven by intellectual curiosity and a hunger for innovation, Liebman, the artist, desires to make everything new by constantly inventing in the moment. There is, in fact, for Liebman no higher consciousness than when, as a soaring improviser with a propulsive rhythm section cooking behind him, he becomes the master of the universe–a creative state surpassing even his NEA Jazz Master status.”
Owen McNally – Hartford Courant 

“While others of his ‘60s generation have fallen off their ambition, Liebman has remained dogged about composition and trying different styles…he’s a fighter.”
Ben Ratliff – NY Times

“”Liebman is arguably the most distinctive and influential voice on the soprano sax today. His sound has a sinewy intensity with a jagged lyricism that borrows equally from the Klezmer tradition as it does from post-Coltrane angular ferocity. It is these disparate yet symbiotic qualities that help to create his unparalleled voice on this instrument. His command of this unique tonal palette goes a long way to his projecting over the most complex and radiant big band figures on all registers of his instrument.”
Frank Griffith-London Jazz News

“It is difficult to articulate what makes Liebman so special among all the many great musicians out there applying their trade. There’s something elusive that sets him apart from all the others. Of course, his harmonic innovations and total dedication to the craft play a large role. But, in addition, he does something that is found more among the great classical composers than jazz players. He not only tells stories, as any good musician is supposed to do, he also paints pictures. Sometimes they are pictures of places, sometimes of people, and sometimes of the inner workings of the mind and soul. They are always vivid and evocative, and his painterly technique and palette are incomparable.”
Vic Schermer-All About Jazz

“American saxophonist and educator David Liebman is one of the true originals of American jazz, utterly committed to every note and prepared to take the sort of risks from which lesser musicians shrink.”
Cormac Larkin – Irish Times

“Dave Liebman reaffirms his gift for applying his unmistakable voice in the most diverse contexts.
Bob Blumenthal

“At 69, Liebman remains one of the most restlessly creative and distinctive soprano and tenor saxophonists in jazz. There’s an intense and incantatory fury to his playing, balancing roiling passion with a super-sharp intellect. Recognized in 2011 as a NEA Jazz Master and also known as a leading jazz educator, Liebman has made a habit of throwing caution to the wind. He’s explored myriad of styles and projects, from swinging acoustic post-bop to fusion and free jazz, and he’s always challenging his own limits.”
Mark Stryker – Detroit Free Press

“Liebman has developed a voice so singular and unique that his broad tone on tenor saxophone and his plaintive, almost crushing wail on soprano mark him with one of the most distinctive styles of horn-playing in all of modern music.”
Raul DeGama Rose – All About Jazz

“Fierce isn’t just a trendy expression, but an accurate description of saxophonist, bandleader, educator and NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman. He plays with such a commanding presence that he always seems like the leader of whatever band he’s in.”
Will Friedwald – Wall Street Journal

“Comparisons are often made between Liebman and an undeniable primary influence, Coltrane, but while Liebman has always been capable of the same stunning virtuosity that led to Coltrane’s legendary “sheets of sound”—wave after relentless wave of rising and cascading notes—the younger saxophonist has never been anything but his own man, with a soprano tone both warmer and more eminently visceral than Coltrane’s nasally, Indo-centric tone, and a solo approach far more imbued with a narrative-like sense of construction and a willingness to let space be, at times, an equal partner.”
John Kelman – All About Jazz

“He’s a precocious elder statesman who deals with the vagaries of the jazz life with remarkable aplomb and feels the obligation to reinvest some of his honest gains for the common good. A seminar without David Liebman is somehow not a seminar.”
Mike Zwerin – International Herald Tribune

“Liebman is among the most important saxophonists in contemporary music . . . a leader and artist of integrity and independent direction.”
Leonard Feather – Downbeat

“Liebman has hardly rested on his laurels…..he has worried his trademark modal cascades into a darker, more spacious vision that roams the unsettling boundaries of established acoustic-jazz harmony.”
Mike Hobart – The Financial Times, London

“He has emerged with a personal voice on both horns: darkly incantatory, furiously intense, risk-laden, harmonically astute, rhythmically free, roiling passion tempering a sharp intellect.”
Mark Stryker – Detroit Free Press

“Quietly and persistently Liebman has remade himself a soprano saxophone virtuoso, focusing on timbre and articulation and making what used to be his second instrument into a singularly eloquent interpreter of standards and originals.”
Gary Giddins – Village Voice

“In 1980, Liebman laid down his tenor to concentrate solely on the soprano and to this day remains along with Wayne Shorter one of the definitive voices on that instrument. Few have been able to find the full range of the soprano while exploiting its fluttery grace, yet Liebman goes even further. He’s completely inside the instrument and the result is a forceful complexity that no one, with the possible exception of John Coltrane, has been able to match. Many musicians act as if brains and passion were mutually exclusive; but Liebman-as Coltrane often did-displays the passion of intellect and understands the emotional excitement of brilliant ideas.”
Neil Tesser – Chicago Tribune

“Liebman hasn’t let the vicissitudes of the music industry or the fickleness of the listening public stop him from going about his business; that is, creating adventurous new music that explores all the nooks and crannies of the jazz tradition. One of the few truly individual post Coltrane soprano saxophonists-and a fine tenorman and flutist as well-Liebman is also a conceptualist who puts as much thought into his ensembles as he puts into each gleaming solo.”
New Yorker

“Dave Liebman grew up hearing John Coltrane in the flesh. Now in his 60s, the Poconos-based Brooklynite is a saxophone guru himself, having earned his stripes in the early ’70s with Elvin Jones and Miles Davis, appearing on Miles’ twisted jazz-funk masterpiece On the Corner and other landmark recordings. Liebman’s own bands, including Lookout Farm and Quest, brought a new adventurism and harmonic density to jazz. Today, “Lieb” is the picture of gravitas, encyclopedic knowledge and world-weary swagger, with projects ranging from duo to big band, jazz standards to all-out experimental. His quartet with guitar master Vic Juris, formed in 1991 and heard most recently on “Further Conversations” hasn’t stopped ripening.”
Philadelphia Weekly – David Adler

”Best known from his early-1970s work with Miles Davis, Liebman has spent his time since then carving out a career that defines unpredictability. His provocative recordings have veered in multiple directions, incorporating Liebman’s admitted fascinations with the worlds of jazz, rock, ethnic and contemporary classical music. What binds these many albums — and Liebman is nothing if not prolific — is his world-class playing.”
Washington Post – Steve Futterman

“….Liebman can be considered as one of the most “European” of musicians from the U.S.A., especially regarding his expressive means and understanding, as his own artistic path of development clearly reveals.”
Musica Oggi – Maurizio Franco (Italy)

“The saxophonist Dave Liebman absorbed jazz in the mid-1960’s. Then, in the 70’s, in bands led by Elvin Jones and Miles Davis and on his own as a bandleader, he really began to apply what he had learned. These aren’t neutral facts of circumstance: the sounds of those times — in timbre, instrumentation, composition and soloing style — exert a powerful force on his music. If one were to make a study of what jazz in the 70’s really was — rather than focus on its perceived failings, which is how most people approach it — Mr. Liebman might be a good starting place.”
Ben Ratliff – New York Times

“Liebman showed how…with a lifetime’s dedication to one’s art, the essence of music can be distilled.”
Peter Bacon – Birmingham Post, England

“Liebman has matured into one of the most technically fearsome and musically curious jazz players in the world.”
John Fordham – London, England

“…not surprising, because originality has been Liebman’s calling card for decades.”
Terrell Holmes – All About Jazz

“Liebman remains one of the living masters of the sax, whether he’s blowing gorgeous ballads or caught up in fearless, soul-searching, streaming of consciousness solos of volcanic intensity.”
Edmonton Journal – Canada

“(Liebman) remains one of the most gifted virtuosos and cliche-free musicians in jazz. Accept no imitations.”
Ray Comiskey – Irish Times

“Liebman is too experienced to be snared by the temptation of lesser performers to pack in all his technique on each solo to show the listener what he can do.”
All Music Guide – Steve Loewey

“This out-of-character willingness to produce the unexpected shows that in spite of conventional manners, Liebman sustains the impulses of a committed, ever-searching improviser.”
Jazz Word

“For more than three decades David Liebman has championed artistic integrity and core musical values, while sharing a beacon for saxophonists in the stylistically fragmented post-Coltrane era. A majestic player, Liebman commands the soprano and tenor saxophones with unequalled technical skill, while his note choice and phraseology convey a lifetime of musical stories.”
Cadence Magazine

”…Liebman continues to explore textures and tonalities where most are afraid to tread.”
Jazz Times – Mike Quinn

“Whatever Liebman does is artistic an honest, because the dude simply can’t play any other way”
Bob Weinberg – CityLink Fort Lauderdale, Florida

“I consider David Liebman to be one of the greatest jazz artists of this century. And I view the term “artist” as the highest compliment anyone can bestow upon a musician. David’s music is art, pure and simple.”
Dave Gibson – Editor of Saxophone Journal

“Liebman is arguably the reigning king of the soprano sax, as well as one of the most complete improvisers in modern music.”
Chicago Tribune

“Liebman has mastered the soprano… so thoroughly that he resists the temptation to become infatuated with the source of his formidable technique. Shrill tumbling cascades of notes may give way to short, stabbing staccato phrases played dead on the beat. He knows the value of space and never gets carried away. ”
Leonard Feather – Downbeat

“. . . Dave Liebman promises to bring us further developments for the ’90s due to his restless and searching spirit. There seem to be few innovators in the music, but if the American audience can catch up to these advancements, Dave will surely be recognized as one of our leading lights. ”
Saxophone Journal

“Liebman has risen to the head of not just one, but several movements. With his sophisticated harmonic approach and vast technique, he is still regarded as a saxophonist’s saxophonist; one of the few to absorb fully and build upon the Coltrane ideal.
Jazz Times

For him usual Western musical practices are clearly not a large enough musical pallet. It’s not even the obvious fact that the usual twelve tones (and their typical usage) aren’t enough for the full expression of his ideas. Sometimes his playing is more like the call of an exotic bird (like on his entrance during the intro to “A Bright Piece”). In other places on the recording (As Always), such as during “Anubis”, his altissimo (extreme high range) playing takes on a singing quality so free that it’s hard to imagine how he does it with an instrument. With each new moment listening to this album, you’ll find his sheer inventiveness to be amazing. Live As Always is just great modern jazz.
Donny Harvey – MuzikReviews.com Staff

“… weaves complex plots and subplots the way that only a handful of jazz musicians have done—Liebman,Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Coltrane and Wayne Shorter come immediately to mind.”
Vic Schermer – All About Jazz

“This level of group awareness [Quest] and communication is not something you hear often. Each of them is a strong individual voice, but when they get together to play, you can hear that they’re more concerned with the totality of the group’s musical statement than demonstrating their individual virtuosity. As I said, this was one of those magical nights that jazz fans long for.”
All About Jazz – New York City

“Anyone who is familiar with David Liebman knows that the music he endorses and performs is sure to be cutting edge.”
Cadence Magazine

“With the passing of Dizzy Gillespie, Liebman may be the leading, living exponent of jazz as an international music. In 1989, he founded the IASJ, an umbrella organization of jazz schools in 35 countries, modeled after the U.N.,that aims to expand and further the jazz tradition through global cooperation.”
Jazz Times

“Liebman proves himself a grounded, pragmatic visionary at the peak of his imaginative powers…”
Downbeat  review of “Monk’s Mood” recording

“What a bolt of pleasure it was to hear his bold, bottomless, lyrically driven tenor. And what a treat it remained to hear his soprano. A fashionable second instrument for many saxists, it is for him a primary source of strength and truth.”
Lloyd Sachs – Chicago Sun Times

“The net effect was incredible-the kind of communication that ranged far beyond the standard level of interplay in jazz together with the kind of power that touched-no, shook-the most basic levels of response.”
Toronto Globe & Mail

“With magnificent technicians and sensitive, perceptive artists such as Liebman, a listener can quickly understand what it is that makes most jazz players merely competent and just a few great.”
San Francisco Examiner

“… then into an improvised call and response section between Mr. Liebman and the band. It was exhilarating; the repertory movement all of a sudden had new potential. ”
New York Times review of Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra’s tribute to Benny Goodman

“Liebman is a personal favorite of mine. He gave the most inspiring clinic talk I have ever heard; he lives, walks and breathes music and he is a great saxophonist. His resume of course reflects that: Miles Davis, Elvin Jones and Chick Corea (to name only three) chose him for their bands and Liebman has led fine bands of his own. He has a sinuous way with a melody and a sure footed ability to take a line far “out” and sound “in” simultaneously at times as well as a fabulous tenor saxophone tone and an an individual voice on soprano. Liebman is a giant of manipulating timbre, timing, note length and expression to manipulate every detail of a note.”
Phil Wain – No Treble magazine

(On Self Portrait of a Jazz Artist ) “…practically every page is comprised of headings that describe in detail still another aspect of his craft gained from introspective discovery, without jargon or unnecessary embellishment, but with enough practical and useful information to make each of these a nugget.”
International Association of Jazz Educator’s Journal

“To me this book is one of the most fascinating and illuminating books ever written on the subject of improvisation. All of the musical examples are stimulating and Dave’s essays on related topics are as elegant and insightful as anything I’ve ever read about improvised music. For musicians looking to expand their harmonic and melodic vocabulary, this is the book.”
Pat Metheny about book: “A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony”

“As with all releases by Advance Music, the packaging is beautifully done, including the printing, the heavy paper, the musical engraving, the cover art, and the binding (although it would be less awkward to have a spiral binding rather than a paperback spine which is almost impossible to keep open on a music rack). Used as a resource reference and an anthology for study and practice, or as an advanced college jazz theory text, Liebman’s book is nothing short of monumental. Using it as a “reader” and mistaking it for the type of nonfiction jazz book which is proliferating bookstores today would be a waste of time. With a saxophone and a piano nearby and a large dose of time and commitment, this book breaks important new ground in the documentation and teaching of modern jazz harmony and freer forms of improvisation.”
Saxophone Journal about book: “A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody and Harmony”

“This is exactly the book I wish I would have written myself! Nothing in it that I wouldn’t TRY to do or teach… I bought the American version in 1992 and always stood one of my deepest reference book since. Thanks Dave, your language is the universal one! 
Claude Delange (classical saxophonist) on “Developing A Personal Saxophone Sound” upon publication of French translation

Selected Recordings and Published Materials:

Sideman:

Live at the Lighthouse; Merry Go Round; Genesis – Elvin Jones (Blue Note)
Earth Jones – Elvin Jones (Palo Alto)
On the Corner; Get Up with It; Dark Magus – Miles Davis (CBS/Sony)
My Goals Beyond – Mahavishnu John McLaughlin (Electra)

Own Groups:

Lookout Farm; Drum Ode (ECM)
Sweet Hands-Dave Liebman Group;Forgotten Fantasy-Duo with Richie Beirach(A&M;/Horizon)
If They Only Knew;Doin’ It Again -Dave LIebman Quintet(Timeless)
Pendulum-Live At The Village Vanguard (Artist House)
Quest (Palo Alto)
Quest II; Quest III-Midpoint (Storyville)
Natural Selection-Quest (Evidence)
Of One Mind-Quest (CMP)
Turn It Around;Miles Away-Dave Liebman Group (Owl/EMI)
Songs for My Daughter-Dave Liebman Group (Soul Note)
Voyage-Dave Liebman Group(Evidence)
Return of the Tenor-Dave Liebman Group(Double Time)
New Vista; Meditations Suite; A Walk in the Clouds-Liebman Plays Puccini (Arkadia)-Dave Liebman Gorup Plus Friends
The Unknown Jobim-Dave Liebman Group (GMN)
In A Mellow Tone-Dave Liebman Group (Zoho)
Conversation-Dave Liebman Group(Sunnyside)
Blues All Ways-Dave Liebman Group (Omnitone)
Beyond the Line-Dave Liebman Big Band (Omnitone-Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement)
Turnaround-The Music Of Ornette Coleman-Dave Liebman Group (Jazz Werkstatt-Record of the Year 2010-German Jazz Journalists)
As Always-Dave Liebman Big Band (Mama)
Guided Dream-with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (Prova)
Samsara- Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group (Whaling City Sound)
The Puzzle-Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group (Whaling City Sound)
Ceremony-Dave Liebman (Chesky Records)
A Tribute To Wayne Shorter- Dave Liebman Big Band (Mama)

Miscellaneous as Leader/Co-Leader:

Thank You, John: Arkadia All Stars, Arkadia (Liebman solo on “My Favorite Things” nominated for Grammy)
Colors; The Distant Runner – (two) Solo Recordings; Bookends with Marc Copland (Hatology)
Gathering of Sprits:Saxophone Summit with Mike Brecker and Joe Lovano (Telarc)
Manhattan Dialogues with Phil Markowitz; Vienna Dialogues with Bobby Avey (ZoHo)
Different But the Same; Renewal with Ellery Eskelin, Tony Marino, Jim Black (Hatology)
Flashpoint  with Aydin Esen, Anthony Jackson, Steve Smith (Tone Center)
Three for All-We3 with Steve Swallow and Adam Nussbaum (Challenge); Amazing (Kind of Blue)
Back on the Corner with The DL Group + Mike Stern, Anthony Jackson (Tone Center)
Dream Of Nite; Negative Space (two separate releases) with Roberto Tarenzi, Paolo Benedittini, Tony Arco (Verve)
Seraphic Light -Saxophone Summit with Joe Lovano and Ravi Coltrane (Telarc)
Relevance with Evan Parker, Tony Bianco (Red Toucan)
Five On One – Contact with John Abercrombie, Marc Copland, Drew Gress, Billy Hart (Pirouet)
Something Sentimental with Adam Nussbaum, John Abercrombie, Jay Anderson (Kind of Blue)
Quest For Freedon with Richie Beirach and HR Big Band; arrangements by Jim McNeely (Sunnyside)
Re-Dial:Quest Live In Hamburg with Richie Beirach, Ron McClure, Billy Hart (Out Note)
KnowingLee with Richie Beirach and Lee Konitz (Out Note)
Unspoken with Richie Beirach (Out Note)
Circular Dreaming featuring Quest (Enja)
Blue Rose with John Stowell (Origin)
Visitation: Saxophone Summit with Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane (Artist Share)

Published Works:

Aebersold Publications:

Understanding Jazz Rhythm:The Concept of Swing (DVD)
The Improviser’s Guide to Transcription (DVD)
The Complete Guide to Saxophone Sound Production (DVD)
Maximize Your Practice (DVD)
David Liebman Teaches and Plays – 2 DVD set
On Education, the Saxophone and Related Topics – Booklet
Standards and Originals Play Along with the David Liebman Group Vol.81
Ten Chromatic Compositions (w/CD)
In Conversation with Lieb (2 CDs)
Eight Compositions of the 1970s-Play-Along Vol. 19
Scale Syllabus – Vol. 26
How to Approach Standards Chromatically – Techniques of Superimposition (w/CD)

 Advance Music (distributed through Schott Music):

A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Melody & Harmony (with CD)-Advance Music(translated to French)
Self Portrait of a Jazz Artist
From Student to Jazz Artist: Talks with David Liebman (MP3)
Miscellaneous chamber music for Saxophone Quartet; Woodwind Quartet and soloist, String Quartet and soloist, Cello and soloist, Viola and soloist, Saxophone Duo, Solo Saxophone, quartet with soprano sax, oboe, viola and cello
David Liebman Anthology (original compositions)

Miscellaneous:

Mymusicmasterclass.com: Jazz Rhythm and Interpreting Melodies (two DVD master classes)
David Liebman Saxophone Master Class (double DVD)-Lessonface/Silverstein Ligatures
What It Is-Liebman biography (Scarecrow Press)
Master Class with Dave Liebman (DVD)-Roberto’s Winds
Jazz Connections:Miles Davis and David Liebman-Edward Mellen Press
The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner-for sax quartet -arranged by Caris Visentin-Caris Music Services
Developing a Personal Saxophone Sound-Dorn Publications (translated to German, Japanese, Czech, Chinese)
Lookout Farm: Improvisation for Small Group-Almo Publications