Bio

Grammy Nominated and Juilliard trained, Dave Linard shares his love for timeless feel-good music as a pianist, composer, educator, and musical director

During the pandemic, Dave along with Wayne Tucker and other close friends brought joy and community to Brooklyn by playing in Prospect Park nearly daily. He also used that time to help found Playbook , an interactive and immersive remote musical learning platform.

A longtime member of Sammy Miller and the Congregation, David has traveled the world with the Congregation, playing venues such as Monterey Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz à Juan, Jazz à Megève, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, SF Jazz, and the Bowery Ballroom.

David composed the music for KPCC’s hit podcast, Tell Them, I Am, which was featured in Time and the Atlantic on their respective lists of the best podcasts of 2019.

Before the pandemic, Dave taught in schools in across the five boroughs of NYC as a member of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz for Young People program, worked as a musical director with Ars Nova in their Makers Lab program, performed frequently with blues artists such as SaRon Crenshaw and Junior Mack, and occasionally toured playing piano with saxophonist Grace Kelly, and playing drums with Gracie and Rachel.

He earned his MM from the Juilliard School in 2015, studying privately with Kenny Barron and Frank Kimbrough, and working closely with Wynton Marsalis. David earned his BM from Indiana University in 2012, studying with David Baker, and performing with Michael Spiro’s Latin Jazz Collective. 

In 2022 Dave will release his debut record, Cafe Gitane in June, as well as Storytime, a collaboration with fellow Juilliard grads, Dan Stein and Dag Markus in March. David plays piano and harmonica on Sammy Miller and the Congregation’s albums including the latest Leaving Egypt (2020) and the self titled mixtape (2018). . In 2017, David played drums on Gracie and Rachel's self titled debut album, which made Bob Boilen's list of top 10 albums of 1017 and NPR's top 100 of 2017. He also plays piano and harmonica on John Fatum's self titled album.