David Gordon studied mathematics and logic before embarking on a career as pianist, harpsichordist and composer.
As jazz pianist, he tours and records with his own international jazz trio, with members based in the UK, Denmark and New York, as well as playing in the quartets of violinist Christian Garrick and the saxophonist Kevin Flanagan and his jazz and poetry explorations of the Riprap Quartet, and has collaborated with singer Jacqui Dankworth. He also plays piano in Zum, formerly Gypsy Tango Passión, for which he jointly writes and arranges much of the music.
As harpsichordist, he plays with the baroque orchestra English Concert and also performs with violinists Andrew Manze and Nigel Kennedy. He leads an innovative early music/jazz group Respectable Groove, for which he writes and arranges the music, and whose most recent project was a version of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Solo work includes both concerto performances and recitals, which always include a large element of improvisation.
As composer, his works appear on more than a dozen CDs, and he is regularly commissioned to write for various groups. His string-band realisations of dance tunes from Playford’s Dancing Master were recorded by members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and his Queen’s Farewell Stomp – based on the Paisible work of a similar name – was recorded by the London Oboe Band on the Harmonia Mundi label. His Tombeau d’une Tipula appears on a new CD of 20th century works for recorder and harpsichord, on which he accompanies recorder-player Evelyn Nallen.
He has co-written a book on musical visitors to England, to be published early in 2005, and gives occasional papers on improvisation and other musical matters. A firm advocate of the power of improvisation, he believes that improvising – in groups or alone – allows us access to parts of the human spirit other forms of music-making cannot reach.
There are three short clips of pieces exploring of the recorder and harpischord pieces with Evelyn Nallen, plus 'Haiku' and 'Snakes & Ladders'; two of his original compositions played by the Riprap quartet with Kevin Flanagan, Andy Brown and Russ Morgan.