Recently tipped as perhaps the most inventive and niche-averse artist in Ireland by Hot Press, David Lyttle is a drummer/composer/producer making waves in the jazz and urban music worlds. He is also the founder of independent record label LYTE Records.

Short Biography

David Lyttle began performing professionally at the age of four in his family folk group and has gone on to become an acclaimed figure in the jazz and urban music worlds. In jazz, as a drummer, his groups have featured the global upper-echelon, including Greg Osby, Jean Toussaint and Soweto Kinch. On his new urban album, 'Interlude', he appears as multi-instrumentalist and producer, featuring a host of new and established talent from the rap and vocal genres, including rappers Soweto Kinch, iLLspokinN and Homecut, and vocalist Rhea. He also enlists A-list session guests Jason Rebello (Sting), Michael Buckley and Pino Palladino (Adele), and reveals for the first time his strong personality as a songwriter.

Long Biography

David Lyttle began performing professionally at the age of four in his family folk group, playing bongos, bodhrán and mini lambeg drum. A few years later he added uilleann and lowland pipes, cello and, at eight years old, drum kit. He began focusing his efforts on the drum kit at the age of eighteen after hearing jazz and at nineteen received a scholarship to study at Skidmore Jazz Institute (New York). The following he attended the Banff Centre's International Workshop in Jazz (Canada), also on scholarship. After completing his classical cello studies at the University of Ulster, David began a PhD in Musicology, graduating as a Doctor of Philosophy in 2009.

David's first apprenticeship in the jazz world began in 2006 with guitar legend Louis Stewart. Around the same time he also formed mentor relationships with global giants such as saxophonist Jean Toussaint, and in 2008 invited American jazz icon Greg Osby to tour in his group. These were the first in a long list of international collaborations that now includes Soweto Kinch, Tommy Smith, Michael Manring, Andreas Oberg, Terell Stafford, Robert Mitchell, Torsten Goods, Jason Rebello and Cleveland Watkiss. David has also performed with David Liebman, Jaleel Shaw, Jonathan Kreisberg, Jacqui Dankworth and Will Vinson. His debut jazz album, 'True Story' marked the first release on his label, LYTE Records, which has grown to become one of Ireland's leading independent record labels, with regular plays on station giants BBC Radio 1, RTE Radio 1 and Jazz FM.

'Interlude', David's new urban release, features David on keyboards, bass, drums and vocals, revealing a strong personality as a songwriter whilst drawing on the influences of producer heavyweights Q-Tip, Mark Ronson and Pharrell. The collaborators include MOBO-winning and Mercury-nominated rapper/saxophonist Soweto Kinch, rapper/vocalist Homecut and Brooklyn rapper iLLspokinN, with talent from Ireland such as vocalist Rhea, rapper Wile Man, guitarist Andreas Varady and folk singer Anne Lyttle also appearing. In addition, Lyttle enlists A-list session guests Jason Rebello (Sting), Pino Palladino (Adele, D'Angelo), Michael Buckley (Donovan, Jerry Lee Lewis), Keith Duffy (The Corrs, Ronan Keating) and Linley Hamilton (Van Morrison).

In October 2010 David released the LYTE Records breakthrough album 'Questions' with teenage guitarist Andreas Varady. Also featuring US bassist Michael Janisch it was launched at the Cork Jazz Festival, where David subsequently received the 'Best Young Irish Musician' award. The band later performed on RTE television's 'Late Late Show' and at London's Ronnie Scott's, Festival Django Reinhardt (France) and Noumea Jazz Festival (South Pacific).

From 2008-2011, David wrote three literary-inspired suites. His interpretation of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' premiered in 2009 and was toured in Ireland in 2010. 'Dark Tales', which draws inspiration from the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, was premiered at Belfast's Ulster Hall, featuring British piano virtuoso Robert Mitchell, and touring in Ireland and the UK with the addition of US saxophone heavyweight Tim Warfield in 2010. Tour highlights included the Belfast Festival at Queens, which was broadcast by the BBC, and London's Pizza Express, which received four stars from the Financial Times. In March 2011 David premiered the CS-Lewis inspired 'Chronicles Suite', commissioned by Jews Schmooze for Peace III, at Belfast Synagogue. It featured two prodigies from the classical and jazz worlds, Israeli pianist Ariel Lanyi and Slovak Andreas Varady, and was lauded by the Jewish Chronicle.

David continues to perform with The Lyttle Family, joining them on trips to the US with shows in Nashville among the highlights of the past few years. They have appeared on television and on the big screen, working alongside Danny Boyle, Richard Attenborough and Northern Ireland's Hole in the Wall Gang. In 2000 they on the televised BBC Music Live 'Perfect Day' multi-region song broadcast, which featured Lou Reed, Bob Geldof, Ronan Keating, Kirsty MacColl and Heather Small. This year will see the release of The Lyttle Family's much-awaited new album, 'This Era', which features David on bass and includes some of his folk compositions.

David Lyttle is endorsed by Evans drum heads and Vater drum sticks.