Born David Reeves Dyson on 3 April 1965 in Rapid City, South Dakota. When he was two years old, his family relocated to the Washington metropolitan area where he was raised and attended school. Dyson played the baritone in school, but was inspired to switch to the bass guitar at the age of twelve after hearing recordings of Larry Graham and Louis Johnson. At the age of fourteen, he decided that he wanted to pursue a career in music. After high school Dyson attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he received a B.A. in 1988. Although he taught himself to play bass, Dyson did take several lessons while attending college. He also learned to play the upright bass, piano, and guitar.
Musical career
After graduating from Berklee Dyson was offered a bassist position with recording artist Walter Beasley. He performed with him from 1988–1989. In the fall of 1988 producer Maurice Starr was searching for musicians for New Kids on the Block. Dyson auditioned and landed the gig. He toured with them from 1989–1992 as their bassist and musical director. In 1992 he was a bassist and composer with Chico Freeman and Brainstorm. From 1993–present Dyson has toured and recorded with Michael Franks, Greg Osby, Terumasa Hino, Gary Thomas, Kevin Toney, Takeshi Itoh, Jack Lee, and Bob James. He was a bassist with Steve Coleman and Five Elements in 1996. A bassist, composer, and co-producer with the Hagans/Belden band from 1999 and presently. Dyson began touring with Meshell Ndegeocello in May 1997. He continued through 1999 and from 2001–2002. From 2003–2006 he was a bassist with Jonathan Butler. He began playing with Pieces of a Dream in 2000 at a concert in Baltimore, Maryland after substituting for the original bassist. Dyson performed with Peter White from 2005–present, Chuck Brown 2006–2007, and Lalah Hathaway 2008–present. In addition, Dyson was a member of the Towson University faculty as a bass instructor in the department of music. He is currently instructing the courseDavid Dyson's Groove Concepts at MusicDojo.com. Dyson is a faculty member of InDepth Jazz clinics & concerts and an instructor with Gerald Veasley's Bass BootCamp and Bass Break LIVE. He is a staff writer for Bass Musician magazine. He is the founder and president of Lil Doc Productions and Lohandfunk Records. Dyson released his debut CD Soulmates in 2000, The Dawning in 2004, and Unleashed in 2008.
Custom bass
In 2008 Dyson was presented with his first David Dyson/Lohandfunk signature series bass created by Pete Skjold. The specifications are: 5 string fretted, ash body, myrtle top, maple fingerboard, maple pick up covers and knobs, 5 piece maple/purpleheart neck, 2-SC-1 pick ups, audere 4-band pre w/5-position z-mode rotary switch – standard. In 2011 Dyson debuted his fretless Skjold signature series bass at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. David Dyson also has several signature series cheesecakes created by Imagine Cheesecake. They include the Banana Candy Supreme and the Triple Chocolate Mocha Bass Kiss.
