Biography
Electric guitarist Dave Corbus entered the world in Evanston, IL, on March 27, 1960, and spent his childhood in the Chicago suburb of Glenview. Largely self-taught, he honed his craft by playing along with records, absorbing early influences from rock figures such as Chuck Berry, Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton as well as blues artists Freddie King and Hound Dog Taylor. Jazz players entered his awareness afterward, among them Wes Montgomery and Pat Metheny along with Clifford Brown, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. A concert by the duo of Metheny and Gary Burton left a particularly deep impression, matched by live performances from Charles Mingus and Eddie Harris. He enrolled for two semesters at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1976 and 1978 before relocating to New York City in 1979, where he took part in blues sessions at Dan Lynch’s on Second Avenue. In the mid-’80s he immersed himself in the city’s jazz circuit at Augie’s (later S.M.O.K.E.) and joined the fusion outfit Business of Blues. Sideman work followed with Chico Hamilton, Ira Coleman, and Essiet Okun Essiet. Formal studies at New York University yielded a B.A. in music composition centered on classical repertoire. He next traveled to Colorado for gigs and has remained in the metropolitan Denver area since settling there in 1993. As a first-call guitarist across the Rocky Mountains, he has appeared with Red Holloway, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Plas Johnson, Lewis Nash, Javon Jackson, Bobby Watson, and Joey DeFrancesco. Corbus fronts his own trio featuring Lindsey Horner and Lieven Venken, participates in the cooperative group 3ocity with organist Pat Bianchi and drummer Todd Reid, and has collaborated with Denver jazz musicians Ken Walker and Billy Tolles.