About Dave
MUSIC
Gigs
Dave is “fluent” in both jazz and classical guitar, able to help prepare students for auditions in both types of programs at university.
Last Saturday of every month at the RCHA Club in Kingston with the Big Phat Horn Band as guitarist and arranger - Going strong for 12 years!
March 8 2025 Concert with the Greg Runions Quartet at The Isabel https://www.queensu.ca/theisabel/whats-on/dan-school-faculty-retirement-concert
Outdoors in the summer!
June 21 and 22, 2025 7 am Yoga In Skeleton Park for the Skeleton Park Arts Festival with Jeb Thorley leading
More To Come!
Dave and Paul Tynan giving a workshop
Teaching
Dave has a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. Dave taught high school music for 22 years in both traditional band classes and guitar classes. Dave was also a guidance counsellor and special education teacher.
Learning to improvise jazz is like learning to speak a language. Organized jazz instruction teaches the musical grammar and helps with the vocabulary of improvising.
Thanks to Victor Wooten for the language analogy in his book “The Music Lesson”.
Recordings
As a leader:
New Release
Trio Music - Bandcamp release
New and old compositions recorded in isolation
Solo Performance: The Solo Standard
A collection of old and recent standards on solo classical guitar
The Dave Barton Trio: Snapshot
A trio release featuring 7 original compositions and 3 standards
With others:
Greg Runions Septet Something Old, Something New https://gregrunions.bandcamp.com/
Mike Cassells Motianless https://mikecassells.bandcamp.com/album/motianless
The Kingston Jazz Composers Collective https://kjcc.bandcamp.com/
The Newcourt Sessions Vol. 1 and 2
Times and Places
The Greg Runions Big Band, Sweet Home Suite https://gregrunions.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-home-suite
Featured soloist on the track Living Lonely
The Queen’s University Alumni Big Band, Oil Thigh Composition, (used to be a) Simple Tune
Greg Runions Quintet But Not Forgotten - https://gregrunions.bandcamp.com/album/but-not-forgotten
with guest artist Kenny Wheeler
Over 100 albums as a session musician on guitar, electric bass and drums
Compositions
Dave has written numerous jazz tunes, big band compositions, brass ensemble works, and solo classical guitar works. Listen to demos on the Soundcloud page and E-mail for a detailed list of available scores/leadsheets
Arrangements
Dave has arranged standards and new original music for ensembles ranging from small pop combo to combined symphony orchestra-big band, recently Quinsin Natchoff’s piece, African Skies for the Greg Runions Big Band, and How High the Moon , for vocalist Yoon Sun Choi with the Kingston Symphony and the Greg Runions Big Band (Photo above)
LINKS
Bandcamp channel
featuring new release,Trio Music
Youtube channel - contains indulgent multitracks and instructional videos:
Soundcloud site
My guitar was made by J.P. Laplante!
My son Paul Barton writes awesome music!
Dave Barton first studied guitar by trying to copy Chet Atkins records at the age of 10. Dave started gigging in dance bands and jazz groups at 16.
Dave went on to study classical guitar, composition and education at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, and to study jazz as a lifelong vocation. Dave taught high school band and guitar classes, and was also a guidance counsellor and special education teacher.
-jazz guitarist, studio musician, arranger, composer, percussionist and private teacher working in jazz, pop and classical music.
-performed with many of Canada’s great jazz players in concerts and on recordings,
-large-form compositions have been performed by the Toronto Jazz Orchestra, the Greg Runions Big Band, Brasswerks, and the Queen's University Jazz Ensemble.
