Soprano and Tenor Saxophone | b. 1946

Dave Liebman grew up in Brooklyn watching John Coltrane play at the Village Vanguard and the Half Note, took saxophone lessons from Joe Allard and later from Lennie Tristano and Charles Lloyd, and graduated from New York University with a degree in American History before committing fully to jazz. A year with the jazz-rock group Ten Wheel Drive and a period with Elvin Jones's band preceded his entry into Miles Davis's electric ensemble in 1973, where he appeared on "On the Corner," "Dark Magus" and "Get Up with It." The two musicians who had shaped his musical thinking were Coltrane and Davis, and by 1974 he had been inside the working band of both. He left Davis to form Lookout Farm with pianist Richie Beirach and guitarist John Abercrombie, recording their ECM debut "Lookout Farm" at Generation Sound Studios in October 1973. The group toured India, Japan, Europe and the United States and was named the number one Group Most Deserving of Wider Recognition in DownBeat's 1976 International Critics' Poll. Liebman also co-founded Free Life Communication, a collective that organised the musician-run loft jazz scene in New York in the early 1970s. He later formed Quest in 1981 with Beirach, bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart, and has since recorded on over 200 albums as a leader or co-leader. He received the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2011. Liebman, born 4 September 1946, remains active.