Biography 

Award-winning musician and educator David Marriott, Jr. is the premier jazz trombonist in the greater Seattle area. His playing has been the cornerstone of such groups as Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Emerald City Jazz Orchestra, Wayne Horvitz’s Washington Composers Orchestra (WACO), Zubatto Syndicate, The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble, as well as his own groups, Septology, Pop Culture, Triskaidekaband and Marriott Jazz Quintet. Described by one reviewer as a "canny and imaginative player whose solos display an extraordinary sense of architecture and conception", award-winning trombonist David Marriott is a musician for the next generation - equally at home as a performer, composer, arranger, and educator. David is co-leader, with brother Thomas, of the Marriott Jazz Quintet, which gained early acclaim for its first CD, "Open Season" (1997). The group was voted the Best Emerging Group by Earshot Jazz that same year, and Best Acoustic Jazz Group in 1999. David also received critical acclaim for his CD project "Septology: In The Beginning", a seven-part jazz suite he composed for septet, based on the seven days of creation. Both "The High Country" – the second album from the Marriott Jazz Quintet – and "Septology: In the Beginning" garnered four stars from the prestigious All-Music Guide. His latest release in 2011 featured his quartet, Pop Culture.

David also has an illustrious performance background, having won the Eastern Trombone Workshop Jazz Soloist Competition in 1999. He is member of Seattle's highly acclaimed Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and the New York-based Brian Lynch Big Band. David has also been a regular member of the Port Townsend Jazz Festival all-star band, and has been a featured performer at the festival with the Marriott Jazz Quintet on numerous occasions. Other festival appearances include the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival with Ray Vega's Latin Jazz Sextet, Bumbershoot, DuMaurier Jazz, First Jazz Festival (Portland, OR), and Earshot Jazz Festival. With the Marriott Jazz Quintet, he has performed regularly at New York's The Kavehaz, 55Bar and Detour, and throughout the Northwest. Now one of the busiest sidemen in the greater Seattle area, David can be seen regularly as a solo artist and sideman, particularly with his own groups: Pop Culture, a pianoless quartet with saxophonist Marc Fendel; Septology, a septet of four horns and rhythm section; Triskaidekaband, a thirteen-piece big band featuring compositions and arrangments by David.

David has been an active participant in the "recording process," having appeared on over forty recordings with his trombone, and has also served as a producer and graphic designer on several occasions. In addition to his recordings with the Marriott Jazz Quintet and his own Septology and Pop Culture projects, David has worked with such artists as Stuart Dempster, Mark Taylor, Jim Knapp, Steve Korn, Seattle's Young Lions, and saxophonist David Liebman. In other areas of the music business, David also continues to work as a copyist and/or arranger, with such clients as David Liebman, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Kenny Garrett, and Delfeayo Marsalis.

In addition to David's work as a performer, he is a passionate educator, both as a private instructor and in the classroom. With experience teaching in public and private high school programs, summer jazz workshops, guest clinician appearances, Hunter College, Manhattan School of Music's Preparatory Division, and most recently at the University of Washington, Edmonds Community college, and Cornish College of the Arts. David works avidly to teach young musicians not only the mechanics and history involved in playing and learning about jazz music, but also how to find their own voice as an improviser, find their own path in the jazz tradition, and find their own, individual passion about jazz. Among the summer workshops where you can find David during the summer include the University of Washington Jazz Workshop, Blaine Harbor Music Festival, Centrum’s Jazz Port Townsend and the Shoreline Jazz Camp. David has also shared his experience and knowledge through dozens of articles he has authored in a variety of jazz and music publications, including the Practice This! column for Earshot Jazz.

From festivals in Puerto Rico, Japan and Europe to such legendary concert venues as Carnegie Hall in New York and Benaroya Hall in Seattle, David Marriott, Jr. has spent the last twenty years performing with a diverse array of artists in a wide range of musical styles, with the focal points of jazz trombone improvisation and large ensemble playing. In addition to his many performances as a leader, David Marriott, Jr. is an in demand sideman, bringing his trombone to dozens of bands over his career in music. The following is a partial list of performers, bands, and bandleaders with whom David Marriott, Jr. has performed: Leaders and Legends: Dave Liebman, Kenny Kirkland, Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Ray Vega, Pete Christlieb, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Ernestine Anderson, Ingrid Jensen, Eddie Daniels, Arturo Sandoval, Jimmy Heath, Eliane Elias, Hadley Caliman, Wayne Horvitz, Joe Chambers, Ray Baretto, Roy Hargrove, Kim Richmond, Frank Wess, The Mills Brothers, Junior Mance, Bobby Durham, George Cables Big Bands: Brian Lynch Big Band (founding member), Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (founding member), Emerald City Jazz Orchestra (founding member), Duke Ellington Orchestra, Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble, Washington Composer’s Orchestra, Jim Knapp Orchestra, Bob Curnow Big Band, Phil Kelly Big Band, David Berger Jazz Orchestra, Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Zubatto Syndicate, Pony Boy All-Star Big Band, Cab Calloway Orchestra, Rob McConnell, Bob Florence, Gerald Wilson, Bill Holman, Jon Belcher’s Savoy Swing Trombonists: Jiggs Whigham, Conrad Herwig, Stuart Dempster, Wycliffe Gordon, Al Grey Other Touring Acts: Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, The O-Jays, Joan Rivers, Bobby Caldwell, Frankie Valli, The Jersey Boys, Deltron 3030, Don Rickles, Lawrence Welk All-Stars, Peter Duchin, Jamie Cullum Musicals: White Christmas, Cabaret, Memphis, The Drowsy Chaperone, A Christmas Story: The Musical, Saving Aimee Other: Wawali Bonane and Yoka Enzenze (soukous band), Orquestra La Nueva Era (salsa), Little Big Man (reggae), Roger Rogers Band (blues), Seattle Blues Review (blues), Thalia Symphony (orchestra)