David W. Tucker

Dr. David W. Tucker
Dr. David W. “Doc” Tucker Director UC Jazz Ensembles,1969-1985
Background information
Origin	Cerro Gordo, Illinois
Genres	Jazz, classical, marching band
Years active	1947 (1947)– 1985

David W. Tucker (1929–2003) was a jazz trombonist, music educator, composer of band and orchestral music, record producer, and marching band arranger, most renowned as the director of the University of California Jazz Ensembles from 1969 until 1985. Under his direction, the organization expanded to become the largest musical organization on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, had an international reputation resulting from foreign tours, and sponsored the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival. Numerous student members of the organization have become renowned jazz musicians, composers, and music educators.

David W. (Doc) Tucker was raised as an only child in a small central Illinois town, Cerro Gordo, where he attended the public schools. He obtained an undergraduate and master's degree in music education from the University of Illinois in 1950 and 1951, respectively, before entering the military.

In 1965, he both began teaching music at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento and began studies toward a doctorate in Music Education at University of California, Berkeley. In 1966, at the request of the Sacramento school district, Tucker assumed the position of Director of Bands at Sacramento City College. While in Sacramento, Tucker played trombone in the show bands of Lake Tahoe. He also arranged compositions for the show bands. He completed his Ed.D. at Berkeley in 1969.

In the fall of 1968, Tucker was hired as an arranger and composer for the Cal Marching Band. He was appointed Associate Director in 1969. His responsibilities with the Cal Band included rehearsing, auditioning prospective new members, and directing on the football field opposite director James Berdahl. For the 1971 season, during Berdahl’s sabbatical year in Japan, Tucker was named Acting Director.

At the end of the 1971 season, Tucker left the Cal Band to accept the newly created position of Director of UC Jazz under Cal’s musical activities department.

Tucker performed in the Champaign-Urbana area as a trombone player until his induction into the army. He was a trombone soloist with the Army band while stationed in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the Korean War.

After the war, he moved to California, where he played trombone in the house bands at numerous Sacramento and Lake Tahoe venues.

Tucker mentored numerous students as a classical composer and music teacher. He mentored numerous students at Fiatarones Music Store in Pinole, California, in music, music education, and composition. Among professional composers who studied with Tucker are Rolf Johnson, Michael Wolff, and Susan Muscarella of the JazzSchool in Berkeley.