David Friesen

Last updated
David Friesen
Born (1942-05-06) May 6, 1942 (age 83)
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Kirsten Friesen
​
​
(m. 1964;died 2002)​

Natalie Digtyar
Children3
Relatives Dyan Cannon (sister)
Jennifer Grant (niece)
Musical career
Genres Jazz
Instrument(s) Double bass
Electric upright bass

David Friesen (born May 6, 1942) [1] is an American jazz bassist. He plays double bass and electric upright bass. [2]

Contents

Career

David Friesen at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay CA 1978 David Friesen.jpg
David Friesen at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay CA 1978

Friesen began playing bass while serving in the United States Army in Germany. He played with John Handy and Marian McPartland and following this, with Joe Henderson; in 1975, he toured in Europe with Billy Harper. His first album as a session leader appeared that year. In 1976, he began collaborating with guitarist John Stowell; the pair would work together often. He appeared with Ted Curson at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1977. Following this, he worked with Ricky Ford, Duke Jordan, Mal Waldron, and Paul Horn. His 1989 album Other Times, Other Places reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. [3] He has also played with Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Garrett, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Personal life

Friesen is the younger brother of actress Dyan Cannon, and the uncle of actress Jennifer Grant. [4] He is the son of Ashkenazi Jewish mother Claire (née Portnoy) and Canadian Mennonite father Ben Friesen. [5] He was married to Kirsten Friesen from 1964 until her death in 2022; they had three children. [1] He has since been remarried to Natalie Digtyar, a fashion designer from the Czech Republic. [1]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

With Ted Curson

With Kenny Drew

With Ricky Ford

With Billy Harper

With Duke Jordan

With Uwe Kropinski

With Mal Waldron

References

  1. 1 2 3 "David Friesen - Biography". Davidfriesen.net.
  2. ↑ Scott Yanow, David Friesen at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Billboard, AllMusic
  4. ↑ Feather, Leonard (March 31, 1988). "Jazz Reviews: David Friesen Trio at Catalina's: State of the Art". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019. Playing for a small but select audience that included his sister, Dyan Cannon, Friesen performed during most of the set on a French acoustic bass, made in 1795.
  5. ↑ Delbert Plett. "Diane Friesen Cannon, A Bergthaler" (PDF). Preservings. Retrieved September 3, 2022.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.