Dave Pike

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David Samuel Pike (born March 23, 1938 in Detroit) is a jazz vibraphone player. He learned drums at age eight and is self taught on vibes. He has also played marimba, particularly with Herbie Mann. Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, and Cal Tjader were early inspirations for him.

He began putting an amplifier on his vibes when working with flautist Herbie Mann in the early 1960s. Further Dave Pike's best regarded album might be his 1962 Bossa Nova Carnival[1] There are several other works he did inspired by Brazilian jazz, Latin jazz, or world music.

By the late 1960s, Pike's music became more exploratory, contributing a unique voice and new contexts that pushed the envelope in times remembered for their exploratory nature. "Doors of Perception," released in 1970 for the Atlantic subsidiary Vortex records and produced by former boss Herbie Mann, explored ballads, modal territory, musique concrete, with free and lyrical improvisation, and included musicians like alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, bassist Chuck Israels (of Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman fame) and the vastly underrated pianist Don Friedman whose artistry was up to the task of finding new spaces in the jazz idiom.

Pike's move to Europe and tenure at MPS/Saba records produced some of the most original jazz of the period. With the collaboration of Volker Kriegel (guitar), J. A. Rettenbacher (acoustic and electric bass), and Peter Baumeister (drums), the group recorded 6 brilliant records from 1969-1972 that spanned the gamut from funky grooves to free, textural territory. The group, though short-lived, created a unique identity and textural palette. Kriegel's compositional and instrumental (playing acoustic, classical, and electric guitar as well as sitar) contributions to the group helped set the Dave Pike Set's sound apart, organically incorporating influences from jazz, soul jazz, psychedelia, avant garde music, and world (Indian, Brazilian, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds) music.