David Sancious

David Sancious resists easy classification as a musician. Proficient on keyboards and guitar while also composing, he draws from an unusually broad spectrum that encompasses classical music alongside rock, jazz, blues, and funk; this breadth may complicate efforts by promoters to slot him into a single genre, yet it has secured admiration from figures ranging from Sting to Bryan Ferry. Born November 30, 1953, in Long Branch, New Jersey, he joined Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band on keyboards while still in his late teens during the early 1970s. He contributed to the first three Springsteen albums—Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and Born to Run—before departing the group in 1975 to sign a solo deal with Epic. His subsequent recordings marked a sharp turn from the grounded, Bob Dylan-inspired roots rock associated with Springsteen, instead emphasizing progressive rock and instrumental jazz fusion. Forest of Feelings arrived as his debut solo effort in 1975, with Transformation and Tone following in 1976. The next year he moved to Arista, where he issued Dance of the Age of Enlightenment in 1977, True Stories in 1978, and Just As I Thought in 1979. After releasing The Bridge on Elektra Musician in 1982, he did not return as a leader for another eighteen years. Only with the solo piano set Nine Piano Improvisations in 2000, issued on his independent Not By Sight imprint and distributed online, did a new album appear. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he remained active as a sideman for Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry, and African pop artist Youssou N'Dour. Although the bulk of his 1970s catalog remains unavailable, One Way planned compact-disc reissues of True Stories and Just As I Thought for early 2001.