Dave Sinclair
David (Dave) Sinclair (born 24 November 1947 in Herne Bay, Kent, England), is a keyboardist (organ, pianos, synthesizer) who has been part of the progressive rock Canterbury Scene. He became famous with the band Caravan and was the author of some of their classic tracks: "For Richard", "Nine Feet Underground", "The Dabsong Conshirtoe", "Proper Job/Back To Front".
Biography
Having started his musical career 1966-67 with the Wilde Flowers, he founded Caravan in 1968 with his cousin Richard Sinclair (bass/vocals), Pye Hastings (guitar/vocals), and Richard Coughlan (drums) and was in and out of the band for 35 years (so far 1968-71, 1973–75, 1979–82, 1990–2002). Over the course of Caravan's first three albums he developed his playing enormously on his favoured model of Hammond organ, the A100, culminating in his soaring work on what is perhaps their famous album, In the Land of Grey and Pink (1971). "Calyx, The Canterbury Website" refers to him as "master of the typical Canterbury organ sound/playing". However, from the second album onwards, he also added other keyboards to his palette, including piano, harpsichord and Mellotron. On his return to Caravan for their fifth album, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, he pioneered the Davolisint.
In between his stints with Caravan, he was a member of Matching Mole (1971–72), Hatfield and the North (1972–73), Polite Force (1976–77) and Camel (1978-1979).
In the early 2000s he released two solo albums, Full Circle and Into the Sun (both 2003). Since then, he has been engaged in a solo career, including concert appearances in Japan and England. A 30th anniversary re-release of his Moon Over Man album featuring vocalist Tim Lynk (demos for an unreleased solo album recorded 1976-77, originally issued on CD by Voiceprint in 1993) appeared in 2006 (including improved sound and bonus tracks), although this is due to be superseded by a further enhanced release of the same material some time in the near future.
Two solo albums, PianoWorks1 - Frozen In Time and Stream (the latter featuring several distinguished guest artists) were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively, but licensing problems have so far prevented Stream from being officially issued outside Japan. However, Dave Sinclair's most recent solo album, The Little Things, was released in 2013, the Japanese version being slightly different in packaging and content from the international version. In May 2015 a series of well-received concert dates with saxophonist Jimmy Hastings took place in Japan.
Discography
Solo
- 1993 - Moon Over Man (Voiceprint VP119CD)
- 2003 - Full Circle (DSincs-Music 001)
- 2003 - Into the Sun (DSincs-Music 002)
- 2010 - Pianoworks I - Frozen In Time (CRSCNT 001)
- 2011 - Stream (CRSCNT 002)
- 2014 - The Little Things (DSincs-Music)
Caravan
- 1968 - Caravan (Verve VLP 6011 now released on HTD Records as HTDCD 65)
- 1970 - If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You (Decca SKL-R 5052)
- 1971 - In the Land of Grey and Pink (Deram SDL-R 1)
- 1973 - For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (Deram SKL-R 12)
- 1974 - Caravan and the New Symphonia (Decca SKL-R 1110)
- 1975 - Cunning Stunts (Deram SKL-R 5210)
- 1980 - The Album (Kingdom KVL 9003)
- 1980 - The Best of Caravan Live (Kingdom 426002)
- 1982 - Back to Front (Kingdom KVL 5011)
- 1993 - Live (Demon Code90 NINETY 2 )
- 1995 - The Battle of Hastings (HTD Records HTDCD 41)
- 1996 - All Over You (HTD Records HTDCD 57)
- 1997 - Live From The Astoria (HTD Records HTDCD 79)
- 1998 - Back On The Tracks (CoCaCamp act001)
- 1999 - All Over You Too (HTD Records HTDCD 102)
- 2004 - The Unauthorized Breakfast Item (on 2 tracks) (Eclectic Discs ECL 1001)
Camel
- 1978 - Breathless (Deram 820 726-2)
Robert Wyatt
- 1971 - The End of an Ear (CBS 64189)
Matching Mole
- 1972 - Matching Mole (CBS 64850)
Richard Sinclair's Caravan of Dreams
- 1992 - Same (HTD CD7)
- 1993 - An Evening of Magic (HTD CD 17)
Polite Force
- 1997 - Canterbury Knights (Voiceprint VP187)
Filmography
- 2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD)
References
- Dave's homepage
- David Sinclair at Calyx, The Canterbury Website
- www.caravan-info.co.uk Caravan Information Service - Official Caravan Website
- Dave Sinclair Video Gallery