Dave's career began in Las Vegas. After serving in the Armed Forces, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theory and Composition at the University of Nevada. He apprenticed playing headline acts on the Las Vegas Strip and performed with local jazz groups.

In Los Angeles, when not doing sessions for Mike Post, Quincy Jones, Don Piestrup and others, or playing acts like Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, Linda Ronstadt, Bette Midler and Luther Vandross, to name a few, he performed percussion duties on many Broadway shows. He could also be heard with the Dennis Dreith, Curt Berg, and Kim Richmond bands, but most prominently with Tim Weston's jazz quintet, Wishful Thinking.

He played vibraphone and composed as a principal contributor on four recording projects: Wishful Thinking and Think Again for Pausa Records; Way Down West for Pat Williams' label, Soundwings; and That Was Then for Intima, the jazz division of EMI Records.