An excellent hard bop tenor saxophonist most influenced by Dexter Gordon, David Schnitter's rise in the jazz world in the 1970s preceded the "young lions"; unfortunately, he has maintained a much lower profile since the early '80s.

Born in Newark, NJ, March 19, 1948, Schnitter started on clarinet but permanently switched to tenor when he was 15. He played locally, moved to New York, gigged with Ted Dunbar, and then was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1974-1979. He worked with Freddie Hubbard from 1979-1981, and had associations with Frank Foster, Charles Earland, and Groove Holmes.

David Schnitter sounded fine on numerous records with the Jazz Messengers and as a leader for Muse during 1976-1981. Schnitter moved to Europe in 1983 and settled in Spain where decided to stay for some time. Over the following five years, he spent a lot of time in Barcelona, Valencia and the Canary Islands but mostly he was on the road around the country playing with local rhythm sections. He also taught in jazz seminars in Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Cadiz. This was an enormous influence to the incipient Spanish jazz scene, along with that of other great American musicians like Sean Levitt and Michael Kaupa.

Schnitter has been on faculty at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music since 1994. He has been currently performing regularly at Smalls Jazz Club and Fat Cat in Manhattan, as well as touring in Europe.

—Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)