About David

 


music contractor, composer/arranger, trombonist, director, concert presenter, producer, recording arts educator

"Manson is a multi-dimensional musician. He expands the musical framework for the trombone and produces challenging sounds in the process. His thought processes run deep, resulting in music with stimulating and logically flowing characteristics built into brawny trombone execution." - Frank Rubolino, Cadence
 


David Manson is a trombonist, composer, improvisor, presenter and music technologist with a diverse range of experience in music. His degrees include a doctorate from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He began his performance career with positions in the Florida West Coast Symphony Orchestra and Memphis Symphony Orchestra and taught low brass and jazz studies at Indiana State University before returning to Florida. He has been soloist and composer with the BONK New Music Festival, Subtropics New Music Festival, Society of Composers and SEAMUS. He has performed and recorded with Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Eugene Chadbourne, John Lindberg, Davey Williams and other innovators.  He has also backed popular artists including Henry Mancini, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Johnny Mathis, Burt Bacharach and toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

David's solo recordings include "Modern Music for Trombone" (lps 3209) and "Beast" (isospin). His releases as leader, composer/arranger and soloist include "Particle Zoo" with ensemble SHIM, "Fluid Motion" with jazz legend Sam Rivers and "Infinita Bossa", "A Kiss for Rio" and "Go!" with Brazilian band O Som Do Jazz and "Radiant Forces" with the Helios Jazz Orchestra. He was trombonist and arranger for Bogus Pomp, a Frank Zappa repertoire band from 1993-2007. 

David is a recipient of three Artist Fellowships in music composition from the Florida Arts Council and Creative Pinellas, a Fulbright-Hays project in Turkey, an artist feature in the Southern Arts Federation’s JazzSouth radio program, and grants from Meet The Composer. His orchestral works have been performed by the Florida Orchestra. Recent television placements include HBO, BBC, Showtime, Fox, CW, ABC and AMC.

David directs the EMIT series of adventurous music at the Salvador Dali Museum and is former director of the Tampa Bay Composers' Forum (1995-2003). Through EMIT and the Composers Forum, David has presented over 500 concerts of adventurous music and placed over $250,000 into the hands of local musicians. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Faculty at St. Petersburg College in 2015.

He directs the Helios Jazz Orchestra, leads O Som Do Jazz and teaches jazz studies and Pro Tools courses in the MIRA (Music Industry/Recording Arts) program at St. Petersburg College. He is the founder and director of the annual St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, in its 14th season.