Portland, Oregon saxophonist David Evans has performed or recorded with Art Abrams, Bryant Allard, Bill Bachmann, Dan Balmer, Phil Baker, Dan Barrett, Ed Bennett, Mike Brothers, Mel Brown, Dave Captein, Retta Christie, Steve Christofferson, Linda Daiber, Lynn Darroch, Rob Davis, Sandy Dennison, Dan Faehnle, Dave Frishberg, Dan Gaynor, Anandi Gefroh, David Goldblatt, Jim Goodwin, Darrell Grant, Tom Grant, Dave Holo, Jeff Hudis, Chuck Israels, Carlton Jackson, Rebecca Kilgore, Nancy King, Storm Large, Joe La Barbera, B. T. Lafayette, Matt Lemmler, Casey MacGill, Bob Magnusson, Johnny Martin, Linda Michelet, Dave Mills, Joe Millward, Glen Moore, Shirley Nanette, Mia Nicholson, Andrew Oliver, Tony Pacini, Jason Palmer, Eddie Parente, Charlie Porter, Randy Porter, Travis Ranney, John Reitz, Jean Ronne, Jackie Ryan, Dan Schulte, Andre St. James, Scott Steed, Ron Steen, Todd Strait, Jay Thomas, Bobby Torres, Chris Tyle, Tom Wakeling, Jed Wilson, Mike Wofford, Lee Wuthenow, Martin Zarzar, Tall Jazz, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Bridgetown Sextet, The Midnight Serenaders, The Djangophiles, Ocular Concern, Boy and Bean and many others.

He has arranged music for recordings by Rebecca Kilgore, Retta Christie, Lynn Darroch, Johnny Martin, Eddie Parente, Armonica Gilford, Jonathan Swanson, Bill Hughes and others, composed the theme music for Rebecca Kilgore’s radio program Listen Here, and arranged music for Mahalia Jackson’s 100th Birthday concert in New Orleans.

David began playing professionally in his native Alabama in the late 1970s, before he was old enough to drive to his gigs. A scholarship to Loyola University brought him to New Orleans in 1984, where he quickly became a busy commercial and jazz musician. In New Orleans David performed or recorded with Pete Fountain, B. B. King, Mose Allison, Nicholas Payton, Brian Blade, John Ellis, Johnny Vidacovich, Luther Kent, Matt Lemmler, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Dany Brillant and many others.

From the late 1980s to the mid 1990s David was musical director on the National Historic Landmark steamboat Delta Queen, where over the years his band featured great musicians like Steve Armour, Fred Atwood, Ric Bendel, Mike Brothers, Daryl Cornutt, Jon Cowherd, Chuck Easterling, J. Hatch, Eric Landsperger, Matt Lemmler, Pete Malinverni, Mark Mullins, Mike Pagan, Joris Teepe, Walter Wallace and Matt Wilson. In addition to performing, he was busy as a writer and arranger for onboard musical shows. He also researched, created and presented special programs on different periods of American music for groups from The Smithsonian, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi.

At home in the Northwest since 1994, he keeps a busy schedule as a working musician. As a teacher, David is associated with Lewis and Clark College and Marylhurst University.