Pianist, composer and Musical Director David Cook was born in San Diego to a musical family and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Now living in New York City, he has enjoyed a varied career of performing, recording and producing.


A graduate of the University of Michigan school of music, David has Music Directed and/or played for many notable artists, including 10-time Grammy Award-winner Taylor Swift, Thomas Rhett, Emmy/Oscar/Tony winner Ben Platt, Maren Morris, Shoshana Bean, Lizz Wright, Academy Award winner Jennifer Husdon, Kesha, Utada Hikaru, Halsey, NSYNC, Billy Porter, Tei Shi and Shayna Steele. He has also played piano in jazz groups led by drummers Mark Guiliana and Red Baraat’s Sunny Jain, guitarist Greg Howe, saxophonists Adam Kolker and Bob Reynolds as well as 2-time Grammy-nominated trombonist Alan Ferber.

David has released 2 critically acclaimed records as a leader on the Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records label, Pathway (2010) and Scenic Design (2015). Produced by Ben Wendel of Kneebody, Scenic Design features David Smith on trumpet, Wendel on saxophone, Matt Clohesy on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums. 2-time Grammy Award-winner composer and bandleader Maria Schneider says “Scenic Design is full of heart, intelligence, and simply fantastic playing…every piece thoughtfully carries the listener along with evolving nuance, expression and harmonic details.”

David is a member of the faculty at Montclair State University as adjunct professor of jazz at the John J. Cali school of music. He also represented the United States in 2008 and 2017 with ensembles through Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department. Those travels included Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, giving performances and clinics to audiences across the regions.

Other musicians that David has recorded or performed with include Dennis Chambers, Quincy Davis, John Ellis, Nir Felder, Tomas Fujiwara, Christian McBride, Donny McCaslin, Marcus Miller, Robert Randolph, Sachal Vasandani and Victor Wooten.