Giving Back
At first glance, all of David's diverse projects may seem to have little in common with his earliest gigs touring and recording with Willie Bobo, Freddie Hubbard and Tom Scott. But at age 45, the Chicago born, New York and St. Louis bred Garfield can summarize his entire, admittedly all encompassing career in three simple words: "I make music. That's my mission statement. Things developed slowly over time, till I was playing every different kind of music in unique situations. Always going against the grain, doing music that may not have been the in thing at the time but hanging around until it became popular. It all goes back to when I was seven years old, first learning the piano," he adds. "There seemed like a great spiritual connection there, and I felt compelled to keep playing. I started my life playing rock, Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk and started meeting more and more jazz musicians in St. Louis which made jazz a logical second love for me. It's been an incredible education."