Dave Figg
Dave was born in 1927 and grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee. In 1947 he entered the New England
Conservatory of Music. He was still a student when he joined the Nat Pierce
band in 1948. The band went to New York the following year and Dave went
with them. During 1949, Dave worked with the Dexter Gordon - Kai Winding
group. He joined the Louis Prima band in 1950 and then switched to Tony
Pastor the same year. In 1951 he played with Ray McKinley. They were
playing the Eddie Sauter book. The following year he went with Claude
Thornhill playing the Gil Evans / Gerry Mulligan / Bob Brookmeyer book.
Then in 1953 he went out with Hal McIntyre playing the Dave Figg book.
In 1954 he went back with Claude Thornhill and made two albums on the TREND
label. He played for two years with the Billy May Orchestra, 1955 and 1956.
The following year he went with Sam Donahue. He played 1958 and 1959 with
Jimmy Dorsey. Then he went with Buddy Morrow and stayed three years before
playing with Woody Herman. In 1965 he went out with Sammy Kaye. Then from
1966 to 1970 he played with Tony Carter. After that he and his wife Gene
came back to Gene's roots in Roanoke. Dave played the local jazz scene until
he went to the Homestead in 1973. Except for the years 1977, 1983 and 1984
when he played at the Greenbriar, Dave has freelanced until the present.
Dave has fronted the Dave Figg Combo, booked players for visiting bands such
as the Elgart Brothers and the circus and also played for other jazz groups
in southwestern Virginia. In 1994 he played with some D. C. friends at a
Kennedy Center concert.
Dave is also a writer and arranger. He has added to the books of Count Basie,
Claude Thornhill, Tony Pastor, Hal McIntyre, Buddy Morrow, Al Bellento and
Jimmy Dorsey. Dave wrote music under grants from the National Endowment for
the Arts four straight years in a row, 1983 through 1986. He died in Roanoke
on January 20, 2001.
Stories from bassist, Larry Rockwell:
In the Summer of 1960 I had just joined Woody Herman's "New
Thundering Herd". The band traveled by car-perhaps 4 or even 5 cars
with a truck for the heavy equipment. I was in
a Ford with Jimmy Guinn, a guy named Keith something and DAVE FIGG. Dave
and Jimmy were both southerners and had a lot of fun at my expense. I
was living in Boston when Jimmy Moser, the baritone saxophonist got me
on the band and it took quite a while to convince the guys in the car
that I wasn't a"proper" Bostonian!
I soon learned about Dave's great writing talent and in fact I have
been hearing about it from musicians to this day. Many years later, when
Bob Peckman would bring Dave to Lewisburg, West Virginia, (where I now
live) to sit in with Manhattan Jazz Junction at the then
Hobnobbery-now The Sweet Shoppe, it was a lot of fun to have Dave play
with the band. Everybody enjoyed having him there. It was also a great
honor.
Young players say that Dave's sax playing taught them about chords. He is a
player that everyone wanted to work with. Dave was cool.