Music - David Darling

"Maverick cellist" is the phrase most often assigned to David Darling, but it hardly captures the richness, diversity, breadth and sense of humor of a man who literally has redefined the way the cello is played and the way music is taught. His five solo albums and appearances with the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Spyro Gyra, the Paul Winter Consort, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai represent nearly every musical genre and every conceivable way a human can communicate via stringed instrument. Recent credits include collaborating on the musical scores for works by European film makers Jean-Luc Godard and Wim Wenders.

 

David's releases with Wind Over the Earth Music include

"8-String Religion"

and the much anticipated new release

"Prayer For Compassion"

Here are some photos from a live performance, which incorporates music from the upcoming release

Prayer for Compassion

Click HERE to view a Quicktime Video from that performance

David Darling's unconventional, playful teaching style has helped open the world of music and improvisation to thousands of people. Darling is a classically trained cellist who began his career as an elementary and secondary school teacher and conductor of band and orchestra, specializing in cello and bass. He later taught music and served as orchestra conductor and faculty cellist at Western Kentucky University. In 1969 he joined the Grammy Award-winning Paul Winter Consort, an extraordinarily progressive band for its time whose sound blended jazz with Brazilian, African, Indian and other world music&emdash; and at times even the voices of animals. During his eight-year stint as soloist, composer and vocalist with the Consort, Darling was immersed in ensemble and solo improvisation. Since he left the Consort in 1978, he has dedicated himself to a solo performing and recording career, and to teaching music and improvisation.

 

In 1986 he co-founded Music for People, a non-profit educational network that teaches and fosters improvisation as a means of creative self-expression. Through Music for People workshops, trainings and special events Darling has reached thousands of people. For the past ten years, Darling has worked for Young Audiences Inc., a National Medal of the Arts award-winning organization dedicated to enriching childrens' lives by providing in-school programs in the form of classroom workshops, artists' residencies and performance programs. David Darling was given the 1995 Artist of the Year award by the Board of Directors of Young Audiences Inc. at their National Convention in recognition of his hard work, innovations and creativity in the service of arts-in-education. Also for children, Darling recently contributed to the book Open Ears; Musical Adventures for a New Generation , acompilation of writings by diverse musicians including Paul McCartney, Pete Seeger and Mickey Hart.

Darling has collaborated on performances and recordings with more than three dozen other musicians, among them: the Consort, McFerrin, Spyro nGyra, Guthrie, Kater and Nakai -- but also including Peter, Paul and Mary; Tai Ji master Chungliang Al Huang; Oregon; Jan Garbarek; Dino Saluzzi; Terje Rypdal; Steve Kuhn; Ketil Bjornstad; the Nickolais-Louis Dance Theater, and the innovative dance ensemble, Pilobolus. His collaboration with Nakai and Kater, an album entitled MIGRATION, was named 1992 New Age Album of the Year by the National Association of Independent Record Distributors (NAIRD). Darling contributed to the musical score of German director Wim Wenders' film "Until the End of the World" and was a featured solo improvisor on the Wenders film "Far Away, So Close". Other film credits include music for Jean-Luc Godard's classic "Nouvelle Vague", and the 1996 movie "Heat". Darling's solo album, CELLO, was released in September 1992 on the ECM label. It combines the spirit of slow, "Adagio" classical music with the floating quality of Gregorian chant&emdash;played in the multi-layered voices of acoustic and electric cello and enhanced with digital delay and other special electronic effects. PULSE magazine named CELLO one of the 10 best contemporary instrumental albums of 1992. Darling recently played concerts in Brazil, completed a solo concert tour of Europe and a Scandinavian tour with the Sea Group and a duo tour with Ketil Bjornstad to promote their new release THE RIVER.