JONAH DAVID

Jonah David was born October 30, 1977, in South Orange, New Jersey, just outside New York City. His father had been an activist attorney in New Orleans, putting David at the intersection of two jazz hubs from birth. His introduction to jazz, and to the drums in particular, came from a Preservation Hall Jazz Band record in his father’s collection. The next phase came in middle school, when a band teacher gave him drumsticks and a copy of the seminal drumming book Syncopation by Ted Reed (to whom Waltz for Eli’s “The Genius” is dedicated). By high school it was settled: David was devoting his life to the drum kit. He quickly developed enough proficiency to start gigging; spent his summers at the Drummers Collective in Manhattan; and studied music at Rutgers University and the New School. From there, David went on tour with ska/reggae artist King Django and with read more...