Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Norman David. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Norman, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In addition to playing saxophone, I have been a composer and arranger trhoughout my professional career. From early on, I knew that, in addition to any other gigs and projects with which I would be involved over the years, I wanted to have a large ensemble as a constant. I decided to form an eleven-member ensemble in 1980 while I was still living in Boston and I named it The Eleventet—instrumentation of soprano/alto/tenor/baritone saxophones, two trumpets, two trombones, piano, bass, drums—and we played a number of concerts over the next couple of years.

I subsequently moved to central Maine for a college teaching position—and I recruited musicians and played Eleventet gigs while I was teaching there. Next, I moved to Philadelphia to study for my doctorate in composition at Temple University. Concurrently, a friend of mine in NYC helped to gather musicians for reading sessions of Eleventet charts in the big apple. I ultimately decided to form an on-going version of The Eleventet in Philadelphia, with the determination that I would use only the absolute best players that I could get.

For the better part of the past thirty years, I have established The Eleventet as a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene and as a notable presence in the northeast. While I continue to play and record in other exciting and creative groups, both as a leader and sideman, The Eleventet has been my passionate endeavor all along. Among its activities, the band has been in residence at Plays and Players Theater in Philadelphia for fourteen years and will present its 175th performance there in May 2025. I have released seven Eleventet albums to date and continue to compose and arrange regularly for the ensemble. I was also invited to Ukraine in 1918 to perform a few my Eleventet compositions with some of the best players in Kyiv, and to give three masterclasses there. “Eleventet” is also a registered trademark.

So, meaningful projects? Eleventet, recording, performing…and teaching.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When I was 12 years old, I had been introduced to the clarinet shortly before entering high school. I cannot of course remember my exact thoughts, but I do know that it immediately became a “thing” and there was no doubt that I would ever want to stop playing. I became fanatical about practicing. In high school, I earned the first clarinet chair in the concert band and I would not relinquish it for the next four years. At about the same time I entered high school, my mother introduced me to the sounds of the big bands of the swing era, in particular the music of Benny Goodman. I was immediately hooked and the prospect of someday leading my own large jazz ensemble was firmly implanted in my mind. By the time I graduated from high school, I had started to play the tenor saxophone too.

I entered McGill University and in fact did not major in music. However, I continued to pratice diligently and I would organize a number of jazz concerts for the student union presentations. I also jammed around Montreal, predominantly playing New Orleans jazz. I got a good dose of experience in playing out. I eventually decided to put together my first quartet (tenor saxophone, pinao, bass, drums) and I was industrious in getting gigs around town. I also began tackling more progressive genres of modern jazz. After graduating from McGill, I worked at an audio-visual center for the next two years and continued to practice and make my first serious attempts at composing music. Not surprisingly, I could no longer ignore my desire to dive headlong into the music profession and I moved from Montreal to Boston to study saxophone and arranging at Berklee College of Music in the mid 1970s.

At Berklee, I had my first opportunities to form bands of various sizes and to compose or arrange the music for performances. It was exhilarating and I would eventually lead two adventurous big bands. I solidified my compositional and arranging skills and solved a lot of the issues that had hindered me from developing compositions adequately in previous years. I had also discovered the music and happenings of the avant-garde, and I was smitten by free jazz and the music of progressive classical composers. The die was cast—I wanted to play and, most importantly, compose and arrange, prolifically and at the highest level that I could possibly attain. In this regard, I earned my way into a course called Line Writing, taught by the legendary Herb Pomeroy. This was the holy grail of writing courses at Berklee and it permanently altered my life in the most positive way. The information was staggering and I was transformed. In fact, I was so blown away that I decided to drop out of Berklee and play and write as much as I could. Within a year, I applied to teach at Berklee and became a faculty member. For the next five years, I relished teaching at the world-renowned institution. I continued to hone my writing and playing skills and I developed my teaching style and procedures based on my perceptions and experiences, and also informed significantly by the mentorship of Herb Pomeroy.

After leaving Berklee, I earned my Master’s degree in classical composition from New England Conservatory, taught for two years in central Maine, and then moved to Philadelphia where I earned my doctorate in composition from Temple University. Over the next 28 years, I taught at Ursinus College; Franklin and Marshall College; the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts; and, most significantly, at Univeristy of the Arts and Temple University (both coincidentally for 18 years and mostly concurrently).

I played a ton of gigs over the years as leader, composer, or sideman, and I taught at the highest level. Then I stepped away from teaching at UArts in 2020 and at Temple just a few months ago. I made the decision to put into full-time practice a coaching program in arranging that I have been developing for several years. I have been working diligently to establish recognition of this program and to propel its success by receiving world-class training in entrepreneurship and promotion through my enrollment in Artistpreneur, a world-class coaching organization based in Chicago. The work has paid off. I was already fully confident that I had an outstanding and state-of-the-art coaching program in arranging and, as a reult of my continued training at Artistpreneur, I am gaining incredible incredible knowledge, as well as clients, and I am perhaps happier than I’ve ever been teaching and working with engaged and motivated students. My program is designed to be equally effective online or in-person and I consistently am refining it.

I am already highly experienced as a performer and teacher, but there are always things still to learn. Age and time are not issues. I work as hard as I can, but I have not and will never forget that we all must decompress and relax too—spend time with the other things that bring us joy. So I firmly believe that an iron-clad work ethic, coupled with sincerity, integrity and positivity, brings successful results in my (anyone’s) work. Plus, it has actually aided me in maximizing my time management and in figuring out how to find adequate down time and opportunities to embrace and enjoy any number of other interests.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For starters, I make sure to post content on a regular basis, related to my coaching program in arranging and to all of my musical activities. I maintain an active presence on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

I often encourage musicians to comment on arranging challenges that I post or to reach out to me for help in overcoming any obstacles that are hindering them when writing music. In this regard, my goal is to build community while showcasing my coaching value. One thing I stress to anyone who is in the early stages of establishing a presence on social media is to be consistent. Set aside time every week to create relevant content so that you can post at least three times a week.

I also make sure to adequately promote any of my upcoming events by sharing performance videos, official announcements, and behind-the-scenes content. Providing followers, and potential followers and students, with authentic experiences of my music, and allowing them to witness my musical activities firsthand, keeps them informed and connected to me. In other words, it is essential that my audience is always aware of opportunities to attend live shows, to access new content…and to study with me.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I have started to consider new ways to share stories on a more personal level—instead of always being technical about musical issues, I realize that couching my narrative around examples of persistence, problem-solving and inspiration could be attractive and enlightening with respect to my musical journey.

On posts intended for a broader audience, I am more and more appreciating how metaphors and everyday comparisons can be powerful and uplifting. For example, I can consider drawing parallels between musical coaching or performance and things people already understand—cooking, sports, relationships. I found a great quote that I intend to use: “Arranging music is like cooking—too much of one spice can overwhelm the dish, but the right balance creates something amazing.”

A friend once suggested that I share the emotional side of creativity. I hesitated at first, but I am realizing that this can be highly effective in getting a broader audience, including non-creatives to resonate with why I create and not just how. I am going to start sharing what arranging means to me, how it helps me process emotions, or how music can connect people. Non-creatives might think that being artistic is just a talent rather than a journey of trial and error, but they should also know about my struggles or challenges so that my journey is relatable and inspiring. Make them aware that even successful creatives have had bouts of writer’s block and self-doubt, or felt the disappointment of projects that did not pan out as expected.

I can also invite direct participation by non-creatives, just as I ask arranging questions in some musician-targeted posts. ForFor example, I could ask which musical instrument represents their personality and why.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eleventet.com
• Instagram: @normandavidmusic
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/normandavid11
• Youtube: @normandavidmusic
• Other: Bandcamp: https://normandavid.bandcamp.com/