Dave Kikoski was born in Milltown, NJ in 1961. Growing up within a musical family, when Dave turned the age of six, he was introduced to the piano and given lessons for the first time by his father. Throughout middle and high school, Dave continued to cultivate his love for piano and moved on to working with various jazz and rock groups around town. During this time, Dave also went on to win the New Jersey Allstate Jazz Competition. After high school, Dave was accepted to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance. While in Boston, Dave began meeting other great players such as Pat Matheny who sat in with Dave’s trio. (Later in 1994, Dave and Pat would meet up again and record together on Roy Haynes’ album, “Te-Vou”, which also featured Christian McBride and Donald Harrison).

In 1984, after graduating Berklee, Dave decided to make the move to New York City. There, it didn’t take long for Dave to start making a name for himself and he began playing regularly with renowned players such as Roy Haynes, Bob Berg, Red Rodney, Randy Brecker, and many others. Just two years after his move, Dave landed his first professional recording session in 1986 on Randy Brecker’s album, “In the Idiom”. The album featured him in great company with Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Al Foster. Dave’s most recent CrissCross release is from a collective named “Opus Five”. Opus Five features new originals by bandmates Seamus Blake, Donald Edwards, Alex Sipiagen and Boris Kozlov. In addition to Opus Five, Dave played on the Mingus Big Band album, “Live at the Jazz Standard”, which won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. In 2015, Dave reunited with Roy Haynes and returned to Blue Note. Currently Dave is continuing to tour the world as both a leader in his own projects as well being a featured sideman among various groups.Dave Kikoski has played on over 100 records including 14 under his own name.