NYU Wayne Shorter Ensemble
Since the Fall of 2008, Director of Jazz Studies Dave Pietro and the NYU Wayne Shorter Ensemble have performed over 140 compositions by NYU alumni Wayne Shorter (class of 1956). These include works from his early recordings released on the Vee Jayand Blue Note labels; compositions written for the bands of Art Blakey, Miles Davis,and the ground breaking fusion group Weather Report; as well as later music composed for his recordings on the Columbia and Verve labels.

The NYU Wayne Shorter Ensemble – 2024/2025 edition
Dave Pietro-soprano saxophone (Director of Jazz Studies)
Joe McCann-alto saxophone(Tenafly, NJ)
Anthony Bolden-tenor saxophone (Salem, OR)
Daniel Gonzalez-guitar (Bogota, COLUMBIA)
Kevin Du-piano & keyboard (Chicago, IL & Shanghai, CHINA)
Joaquin Eaton-Sharon-electric & acoustic bass (San Diego, CA)
Nino Aiyer-drums (Houston, TX)

Dave Pietro
A native of Southboro, Massachusetts, Dave Pietro has been on the New York music scene since 1987. His talents as a gifted saxophonist, composer, and educator have made him an in-demand musician who has performed at jazz clubs, jazz festivals, schools and concert halls around the world.

Dave is a member of the Grammy Award Winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, as well as Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and the Gil Evans Project. From 1994-2016 he performed and recorded seven CD’s with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. He has also toured and/or performed with the bands of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Maynard Ferguson, The Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Mike Holober. Pietro has also performed with Louis Bellson, Blood Sweat & Tears, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Harry Connick Jr., Liza Minnelli, and John Pizzarelli.

Dave has released ten albums as a leader and his latest, The Talisman (Steeplechase-2024) features Scott Wendholt, Gary Versace, Jay Anderson and Billy Drummond. Ken Dryden of the New York City Jazz Record described it as “a masterful album that is not only fueled by its lush harmony, but by its infectious rhythmic undercurrent” by. Dave’s other releases include Hypersphere (ArtistShare-2020), New Road: Iowa Memoirs (ArtistShare-2017), Impressions of Brazil (A Records-2004) and Standard Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder (A Records-2001), and feature musicians such as Dave Holland, Bill Stewart, Kenny Werner, Scott Colley, Brian Blade, Helio Alves, Duduka DaFonseca, Johannes Weidenmueller, Mike Rodriguez, and Johnathan Blake. Dave also co-leads an international quartet “The New York-Tokyo Connection” (NYTC) with pianist Jonathan Katz. In 2005 and 2007 Dave received grants from Chamber Music America’s New Works Programs to compose and perform his new extended work “The Chakra Suite” (Challenge Records-2008).

Pietro received a bachelor’s degree in music education from North Texas State University and a Master of Arts degree in jazz composition from New York University where he is currently the Director of Jazz Studies. Dave is sponsored by D’Addario Woodwinds, the Conn-Selmer Instrument Company and R.S. Berkeley Musical Instruments.