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David Barker was born 10/20/1979 in Amstelveen, Holland.He got in contact with music at a very young age because both of his parents were teachers at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. He started playing classical piano at the age of 6. At the age of 14 he started playing drums and discovered that he had a natural talent for it.First, playing death metal,poular music and funk, later, at the age of 17 he started to develop the interest for jazz, fusion and Latin music due to his father who took him to the "North Sea Jazz Festival".He received a Bachelor degree of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague which he graduated from with honors. He studied there with: Eric Ineke, Marcel Serierse, Stefan Kruger, Joe Labarbera and others. In 2001 he was selected to represent Holland for the I.A.S.J ( International Association for Schools of Jazz ) meeting in Boston̢۪s Berklee School of Music. There he was discovered by Eric Mosenholm, the director for the European Youth Jazz Orchestra. He asked David to go on a tour through Europe with a composer Django Bates in the summer of 2002 which he did and it was a great success and great experience on the road. David now plays in many groups and projects in Holland and the rest of Europe.He He just finished recording a CD with his own quartet "ThinkTank" which he also reached the finals with of the prestigious Jazz Hoeilaart competition in Brussels. He won the concours with the Pierre Anckaert trio. They also recorded a cd and a vinal record is coming out end of 2009.He also performed in a sold out BIM huis ( Amsterdam) with the " Onur Ataman Band " featuring Eric Vloeimans and Jeroen van Vliet.A couple of other projects he is currently involved in are: AZURE, Mission Cymbalom, World Wide Big Band, Onur Ataman Band and collabs with many other musiciansDavid played concerts, projects, workshops with: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Michael Brecker, Django Bates, Eric Vloeimans, Jeroen van Vliet, Philip Harper, Jarmo Hoogendijk, Ben van der Dungen, Tom Beek, Rob van Kreefeld, Ilja Reijngoud, Eelco van der Meeberg, Pierre Anckaert, John Ruocco, Eef Albers and many more....About Thinktank:"Thinktank" was founded at the Royal Conservatoir of The Hague and consists of four musicians who can be considered equal.their music is as versatile as it is adventurous, and is based upon traditional jazz aswell as more contemporary elements of western popular music. Even though the compositions have been written or arranged by individual band members, the interaction is the most important aspect of the band's music, giving it a typical "working band" feel. All graduates of the Conservatoire, each one of them is currently working as a freelance artist in the field of jazz, fusion, world music to name but a few styles.Guy Nikkels has worked with Michael Brecker, kenny Werner and John Ruocco. Rein godefroy plays in various latin bands and has also played with Ben v/d dungen, Ilja Reijngoud and Stefan Lievestro. Hendrik Vannatenhoven played with Kenny Wheeler and Wynton marsalis and is a frequently asked bassplayer in Holland as well as in his native country Belgium. David Barker has toured with the european youth jazz orchestra and has also played with Michael Brecker, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Dutch artists such as Rob Van Kreeveld and Eef Albers. Pek Dek is their debut album on the O.A.P label and is bound to turn some heads.....About Azure: AZURE was formed in 2006 by pianist Pierre-Fran̤ois Blanchard and guitar player Rogier Schneemann. They met by chance in a rehearsal at the Royal Conservatory and felt an immediate musical connection. Later, they teamed up with drummer David Barker and bass player Eric Heijnsdijk and started working on original material. This resulted in their first studio recording called 'There Were Stars'. THE NEW ALBUM IS OUT NOW!!