BIOGRAPHY

A native of Southboro, Massachusetts, Dave Pietro has been on the New York music scene since 1987. His talents as a gifted saxophonist, composer, and educator have made him an in-demand musician who has performed at jazz clubs, jazz festivals, schools and concert halls in more than 30 countries throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. Pietro is a member of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, and two GRAMMY®-nominated groups - Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and the Gil Evans Project. From 1994-2016 he played lead alto saxophone and recorded six albums with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed, toured, and/or recorded with the bands of Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Louis Bellson, Anita Brown, Harry Connick Jr., John Fedchock, Mike Holober, Jihye Lee, Michael Leonhart, Pete McGuinness, Arturo O’Farrill, Jared Schonig, Helen Sung, and Chris Zuar. Pietro has worked with many other well-known musicians such as Paul Anka, Blood Sweat & Tears, David Bowie, Bobby Caldwell, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, Chaka Khan, Liza Minnelli, James Naughton and John Pizzarelli. In addition, he has studied East Indian music and performed with various groups led by Indian tablist Sandip Burman.

As a leader, Pietro has released 11 albums and his latest recording Satori (East 15 th -2025) features Michael Rodriguez, Gary Versace, Johannes Weidenmueller and Johnathan Blake. Esteemed jazz critic Bill Milkowski says “Satori is imbued with ebullience, crackling interplay and virtuosic displays of soloing. It’s a feast for the ears.” In 2024 Pietro released The Talisman, his first album for the storied Steeplechase label, featuring Scott Wendholt, Gary Versace, Jay Anderson and Billy Drummond. Stamish Malcuss of Jazz Sensibilites said of it… “The Talisman is a fine addition to the jazz canon, a beacon for Pietro’s discography, and it embodies the spirit of exploration and innovation at the heart of the genre.”

Hypersphere (ArtistShare-2020) features Alex Sipiagin, Gary Versace, Johannes Weidenmueller and Johnathan Blake, with guests Ryan Keberle and Rogerio Boccato. “With it Pietro has emerged as a leader of importance" says Thomas Conrad of Stereophile. Pietro’s first ArtistShare release New Road: Iowa Memoirs (2017), co-sponsored by the University of Iowa, was called “a carefully measured balance between structure and spontaneity, filled with inspirational performances by a top-flight ensemble” by Mark Holston of Jazziz magazine.

Embrace: Impressions of Brazil (A Records-2004), which features a host of musicians including Brazilian pianist Helio Alves and renowned Brazilian drummer Duduka DaFonseca was considered “a triumph...one of the most satisfying Brazilian jazz mixes since the first bossa nova tsunami” by Judith Schlesinger of AllAboutJazz. Standard Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder, (A Records), featuring Scott Wendholt, Pete McGuinness, David Berkman, Scott Colley and Brain Blade was voted one of the top-10 jazz albums of 2001 by Bob Blumenthal of the Boston Globe and Bill Milkowski of Jazz Times. Earlier A Records releases include Now Becoming Then (1999) with this same band except Mike Holober on piano, and his first two label releases for the label - Forgotten Dreams (1994) and Wind Dance (1998), both featuring the rhythm section of Kenny Werner on piano, Dave Holland on bass and Bill Stewart on drums.

Pietro co-led an international quartet “The New York-Tokyo Connection”(NYTC) with pianist Jonathan Katz; their third album Precious (Seven Steps) was released in 2014. In 2005 and 2007 Pietro received grants from Chamber Music America’s New Works Programs to compose and perform his new extended work The Chakra Suite (Challenge Records). Featuring Gary Versace, Rez Abbasi, Todd Isler, Johannes Weidenmueller and Adam Cruz, it was voted one of the top CD’s of 2008 by All About Jazz.

Pietro received a bachelor’s degree in music education from North Texas State University where he toured and recorded four albums with the school’s One O’Clock Lab Band. He has a Master of Arts degree in jazz composition from New York University where he is currently the Director of Jazz Studies. Pietro has given hundreds of workshops and concerts at schools around the world and is sponsored by D’Addario Woodwinds, the Conn-Selmer Instrument Company, and R.S. Berkeley Musical Instruments.