Dave Pope Trio
Biography Dave Pope Trio
Dave Pope
is an Atlanta based multi-instrumentalist performing on drums, guitar and bass guitar. Dave grew up in a musical family with parents, Ann Almond Pope and David Pope Sr., both virtuoso classical pianists and teachers. His brother Pete is a pianist who performs in the Austin TX area and his brother Mike has had an extensive career as a touring bassist, pianist, producer, composer and most recently as Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music.
Dave began his music career in the Toledo OH area at the age of 14 playing in garage bands and subbing for college jazz musicians who were double-booked for gigs. With the instruction and mentoring from local musicians such as drummer Bob Breithaupt, bassist Jeff Halsey, guitarist Chris Buzzelli and multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker, Dave began performing with some of the best musicians in the region. Among those musicians were pianists, Larry Fuller, Mark Kieswetter and Ron Oswanski, guitarist Dan Faehnle and trumpeter Jimmy Cook, to name only a few. During his Toledo days, Dave had a brief stint in Chicago in the late 80’s where he studied with drummers Joel Spencer and Paul Wertico and performed with guitarist Akio Sasajima. After returning to Toledo, Dave embarked in several projects as a band leader, some of which included his brother Mike and a group featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker.
In the late 90’s, Dave moved to East Tennessee where he honed in to his production skills and began performing regularly in the Chattanooga area. He moved to Atlanta in 2008 which has become his home. In Atlanta Dave has performed with world class musicians such as trumpeter and vocalist Joe Gransden; pianists Louis Heriveaux, Tyrone Jackson, Geoffrey Haydon and Kevin Bales; organist Dave Ellington; guitarists Dan Baraszu, Randy Honea, Dave Frackenpohl and Roberto Chiappetta; saxophonists Bill VanDyke and Matt Miller; bassists Tommy Sauter, Craig Shaw, Andy Eulau and Joseph Patrick Moore; drummers Chris Burroughs and Emrah Kotan; and Vocalists Illona Knopfler and Jennifer Farnsworth.
The group’s first record, Dave Pope Trio “You and The Night and The Music” was recorded at brother Mike’s studio in 2010 and released in 2012. It features John Patitucci on bass, Mike Pope on piano and Dave on drums. The project was somewhat experimental in that Mike, primarily a bassist, played piano with his mentor and long-time friend, John Patitucci on bass. The end result was a wonderful journey of spontaneity as the trio had only played together on the session with no rehearsals. Dave initially self-marketed the record up until signing with Blue Canoe Records in December of 2019.
The Trio had planned to do another record in 2020 but had to cancel due to Covid. Fortunately, they were all able to get together for 2 days in the summer of 2024 to record “Skyline”, their newest release on Blue Canoe Records. A lot of musical territory is covered on this record with a variety of styles including an original by Mike and another by Dave. The record also features John and Mike, both on 6 string electric bass performing Steve Swallow’s “Falling Grace”, essentially making the trio both a piano and guitar trio. Although there was a 14-year gap between performing together, the Trio easily picked up where they left off and added some new dimension to this record.
