David Caldwell
Biography
DAVID CALDWELL (tenor and alto saxophones, flute, clarinet) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. At the age of 18, after playing and recording with Halifax’s finest bands, Caldwell left his home town to study formally with Joe Viola at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Completing his studies and work in the Boston area, he moved to Montreal where he began a long association as a studio musician with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and enjoyed a full career as a featured soloist with the Vic Vogel and Denny Vaughan Orchestras.
A job offer of two weeks in Bermuda expanded to five years playing with the best English jazz musicians backing such artists as Jackie and Roy, Bette Midler and……Tiny Tim! He moved to Toronto in 1972 and was quickly absorbed into the music scene there including TV, jingles, recordings, and film sound tracks. He began a long and continuing membership as a featured soloist with the Phil Nimmons Orchestra, The Boss Brass, The Spitfire Band, and Jim Galloway’s Wee Big Band.
For many years, Caldwell traveled as a featured player with Anne Murray at the height of her commercial successes, travels which took him to Radio City Music Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, The Tonight Show, the London Palladium, and concert venues in Australia and New Zealand.
For 15 years he occupied the first woodwind chair at Toronto’s prestigious O’Keefe where he played with greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Diana Krall, Oscar Peterson, and Zoot Sims. In recent years he has appeared with Peter Appleyard at the Berne (Switzerland) Jazz Festival, and frequently during the Toronto Jazz Festival.