David Sancious (born November 30, 1953 in Asbury Park, New Jersey) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on the 1992 album Human Touch. Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Peter Gabriel, and Sting among many others.
Sancious began to learn classical piano at seven and by eleven he had taught himself guitar. He was only in his teens when he first became involved in the Asbury Park music scene. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he played in various bands that included Springsteen and future members of The E Street Band, as well as Southside Johnny and Bill Chinnock. These bands included Glory Road, Dr.Zoom & The Sonic Boom, The Bruce Springsteen Band and The Sundance Blues Band.
In January 1972, Sancious moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he worked at Alpha Studios as a studio musician doing jingles and sessions. While there he met Ernest Carter. In June 1972 Springsteen asked him to play keyboards on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.. However when Springsteen began touring with what is now considered the unofficial start of the E Street Band in October 1972, Sancious was not with them, having in July 1972 returned to Richmond and Alpha Studios and recorded some demos with Carter and Garry Tallent. (Producer/songwriter Wes Farrell owned the rights to these demos and in 1976 he released them as David Sancious without permission.)
Thus, it is debatable whether Sancious was a founding member of the E Street Band, since the band would not be officially known or billed as such until September 1974. In any case, Sancious was certainly a member of the early Springsteen musical entourage; indeed, legend has it that the band took its name from the street in Belmar, New Jersey, where Sancious' mother lived, as she had allowed the band to rehearse in her home.
From June 1973 Sancious began to tour regularly with the E Street Band. He added an extra dimension to the band's early sound. Equally influenced by Mozart or Thelonious Monk, he would frequently use classical music or jazz during intros or instrumental breaks. Springsteen's second album, The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle, was a showcase for Sancious' talents. His most notable contributions include an organ solo on "Kitty's Back" and an evocative piano intro on "New York City Serenade". He is also credited with the string arrangement on the latter song, and even played soprano saxophone on "The E Street Shuffle".
In February 1974 drummer Vini Lopez left the E Street Band and Sancious recommended his friend, Ernest Carter, as a replacement. Later in the year Sancious and Carter helped record the title track of Springsteen's third album Born to Run.
In August 1974 Sancious and Carter left the E Street Band and formed their own band Tone with Gerald Carboy (bass). At various times the band would feature Patti Scialfa, Gayle Moran (from Return To Forever and The Mahavishnu Orchestra), and future Santana vocalist Alex Ligertwood. Springsteen encouraged Sancious in his solo career and made sure music executives heard his demos, leading to a contract with Epic Records.
Tone's 1975 debut album Forest Of Feelings was produced by Billy Cobham. Sancious' work with Tone was a radical departure from the music he played with Springsteen; Tone explored progressive rock and instrumental jazz fusion and had more in common with Yes or early Genesis than Sancious' former boss.
Another album, Transformation (The Speed Of Love), followed in 1976, and a third album, Dance Of The Age Of Enlightenment, was recorded. However a dispute between Epic and Sancious' new label, Arista Records, over ownership rights meant it was shelved. It would not be released until 2004. One more Tone album, True Stories, came out in 1978 but the band subsequently broke up.
Sancious released two solo albums, Just As I Thought (1979) and The Bridge (1980), and then put his solo career on hold. On Sunday, December 14, 1980, during the ten minutes' silence organized in memory of the recently-murdered John Lennon, Sancious performed an extended improvisation based upon Lennon's Across the Universe. Commissioned by New York radio station WNEW-FM, the solo piano performance was broadcast live, with no audience present, from the empty stage of the Capitol Theatre (Passaic) .
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