Dave Pike
American jazz musician (1938–2015)
David Samuel Pike (March 23, 1938 – October 3, 2015) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He appeared on many albums by Nick Brignola, Paul Bley and Kenny Clarke, Bill Evans, and Herbie Mann. He also recorded extensively as leader, including a number of albums on MPS Records.
Biography
Pike learned drums at the age of eight and was self-taught on vibraphone. He made his recording debut with the Paul Bley Quartet in 1958. He began putting an amplifier on his vibes, when working with flautist Herbie Mann in the early 1960s. By the late 1960s, Pike's music had become more exploratory, contributing a unique voice and new contexts that pushed the envelope in times remembered for their exploratory nature. The Doors of Perception, recorded in 1966 (released in 1970 for the Atlantic Records subsidiary Vortex Records) and produced by former boss Herbie Mann, explored ballads, modal territory, musique concrète, with free and lyrical improvisation, and featured musicians including alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, bassist Chuck Israels and pianist Don Friedman.
Pike moved to Europe and signed with MPS Records. With the collaboration of Volker Kriegel (guitar), J. A. Rettenbacher (acoustic and electric bass), and Peter Baumeister (drums), he formed the Dave Pike Set.
The public source identifies “Dave Pike” as american jazz musician (1938–2015). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Dave, Pike and American.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q678577. VIAF identifies the subject as 49410166. The Library of Congress control number is nr93043842. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1938, 2015, 1958 and 1966.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dave Pike” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.