David Occhipinti
Composition
Small Jazz Ensemble
Applied Guitar
David Occhipinti has released several CDs as a leader that feature his unique voice as a composer and as a guitarist.
On David’s release, Camera (2012), he combines elements of contemporary chamber music with improvisation. The recording features David’s compositions and guitar playing, with a unique ensemble, consisting of: clarinet, bassoon, marimba, guitar, violin, viola, cello, and bass. The recording also includes a suite for guitar and string quartet.
David has multiple nominations for Juno awards including his CD Forty Revolutions (2007), and Duologue (2003), his first of two duo CDs with saxophonist Mike Murley. A collaboration David made with bassist Andrew Downing and trumpeter Jim Lewis called Bristles (2014), was also nominated and given four stars (****) in the internationally acclaimed Downbeat magazine.
As a composer, David has received numerous commissions to compose for solo artists, chamber groups and large ensembles. Aside from on his own CDs, his compositions appear on CDs by Beverley Johnston, Random Access Large Ensemble and many others.'
David has performed all across Canada, in the U.S., Europe, Japan; and in Italy, where he lived for three years.
David Occhipinti studied in New York with the legendary jazz guitarist and composer, Jim Hall, during the mid-1990s. Jim Hall had this to say about David’s Camera CD: “David Occhipinti has created an absolute gem [Camera]. His writing is unique, his playing is completely original and stunning. I just wanted to keep listening… His music is an absolute work of art!” -Jim Hall