David Darling (musician)
David Darling (March 4, 1941 – January 8, 2021) was an American cellist and composer. In 2010, he won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. He performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Paul Winter Consort, Ralph Towner and Spyro Gyra and released many solo albums. Among these were 15 recordings for ECM. Music career. Darling was born on March 4, 1941 in Elkhart, Indiana. He was interested in music from an early age, beginning piano when he was four, cello at ten, and string bass in high school. He studied classical cello at Indiana State University  and after graduating remained there another four years as a teacher. He worked as a studio musician in Nashville, Tennessee and was a member of the Paul Winter Consort until 1978. During the following year, he was part of the chamber jazz group Gallery with Ralph Towner and released his first solo album, Journal October. Darling's performance and composition draw on a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz, Brazilian, African, and Indian music. He wrote and performed music for more than a dozen major motion pictures, the horror film "Child's Play" (1988), "Heat" (1995), and "Until the  End of the World" (1991). He contributed music to "Nouvelle Vague" (1990), "Éloge de l'amour" (2001), and "Notre musique" (2004). In 2000, he recorded a collaboration with the Wulu Bunun, a group of Taiwanese aborigines. In 2007 he recorded "The Darling Conversations", with Julie Weber discussing his music philosophy. It was issued by Manifest Spirit Records. In January 2009, Darling released the Grammy-winning "Prayer for Compassion", a follow-up of his earlier "8-String Religion", both on the Curve Blue label. Other activities. In 1986, Darling joined Young Audiences, an organization that seeks to educate children about music and  the arts through school programs. In the same year, he founded Music for People, which seeks to encourage self-expression through musical improvisation. His teaching methods are the subject of a book, "Return to Child" (2008). In May 2008, he became part of a collaboration of music teacher and performers offering a training program in holistic and intercultural approaches to healing with sound and music at the New York Open Center Sound and Music School. David Darling died in his sleep, January 8, 2021. Discography. As sideman. With Peter Kater With Ketil Bjørnstad With Terje Rypdal With Jacqueline Tschabold Bhuyan  With others