Dave Samuels at Aarhus Jazz Festival (Denmark 2009)
David Alan Samuels (October 9, 1948 – April 22, 2019)[1] was an Americanvibraphone andmarimba player who spent many years with the contemporary jazz groupSpyro Gyra. His recordings and live performances during that period also reflect his prowess on thesteelpan, a tuned percussion instrument of Trinidadian origin.
Samuels was born inWaukegan,Illinois, United States.[1] At the age of six he started playing drums and piano. He learnedvibes andmarimba while a student at Boston University. He continued his studies at theBerklee College of Music, also in Boston, and studied with vibraphonistGary Burton. He taught percussion at Berklee before moving to New York City in 1974. Soon he was recording and performing withGerry Mulligan,Carla Bley, andGerry Niewood. He played in a vibes/marimba duo withDavid Friedman, who had been his teacher at Boston, releasing albums under the name Double Image.[2][3]
Samuels wrote columns for the magazinesModern Percussionist andModern Drummer, a method book, and made an instructional video. He taught at Berklee and at theNew England Conservatory of Music.[2][4]
Samuels died on April 22, 2019, due to an undisclosed long-term illness.[1][5][6]
^abcKernfeld, Barry (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.).The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 495.ISBN1-56159-284-6.
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