Dave Babcock, Music ’82, has spent the past four decades making award-winning music in Edmonton and across Canada. The 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient has performed with world-famous musicians like k.d. lang, The Temptations and Frank Sinatra Jr., has appeared on hundreds of recordings, and has led multiple bands including The Jump Orchestra and The Nightkeepers.

We caught up with Babcock to discuss his lifelong love of music, the road to leading his own bands and his fondest memories of MacEwan.

What was the instrument that got you interested in playing music?

Both my parents were music lovers. Though they weren’t musicians per se, they appreciated music, always had a good stereo and a record collection with a lot of variety. When our family moved to Edmonton in ’72, I enrolled in the band program at Westminster Jr. High School. It was led by an enthusiastic young teacher named Brian Appleby. The first day of class we got to choose which instrument we wanted to play and, like a lot of kids, I put the drums down first. I made the saxophone my second choice; it looked cool to me. Happily, Mr. Appleby gave me the saxophone. When I came home that first day with an alto saxophone, I was already making up stuff to play on it. 

Your future instructor at MacEwan got you interested in pursuing music as a career?

I still had that love and passion for music after high school, but I hadn't found a way to move further with it. I was playing baritone sax with the Cosmopolitan Wind Ensemble, and the late Rick Garn – a multi-instrumentalist and instructor at MacEwan – had been brought in by our band director Harry Pinchin to cover the oboe chair for a concert. Rick was seated right in front of me during the dress rehearsal and he played his parts beautifully. I was so amazed that this guy could just show up and play that well. We were talking after the rehearsal and he mentioned MacEwan to me and that I should think about studying there. That got me interested in music as a possible career path. Of course, getting the training is one thing, but turning that knowledge into a career is the tricky part.

What led you to working with massive names like The Temptations and Frank Sinatra Jr.?

It was a series of small steps, really. You have to establish a good reputation, a brand and build a network. I was playing in a friend’s band shortly after graduating from MacEwan, and as I was playing with them, I was meeting other musicians and getting to know the Edmonton scene. I was also teaching a bit on the side, working part-time trying to cobble it all together into a living. And then those opportunities to play with higher-profile artists started coming my way. You have to put in the time, effort and sweat equity in order to get better as a musician and land those bigger opportunities when they come to you.

You’ve been a saxophone player, multi-instrumentalist and studio musician, who’s played with many different artists. How did that lead to you starting your own bands?

As much fun as it is to be a freelance musician, you're relying on other people to provide you with a living, and you don't usually have a say in what music you're playing. I knew I had it in me to lead and to put projects together, so I started doing that in the late ’80s with The Jump Orchestra. I developed the ability to create work for the Jump Orchestra and the other groups I’ve put together by building relationships with local venues. Being able to create my own market as a saxophonist, and also for my bands, was instrumental in growing my career. Over time  I became a bandleader, a singer, a songwriter, a recording artist and a  producer, while still being a saxophonist. All of these  different  roles I’ve had the opportunity to experience and  add to my resume.

You say having a meaningful career and doing it on your own terms is the biggest award as a musician, but is there another that stands out?

I think it would be the first award I received when I was leading the Jump Orchestra. We won what was the Alberta Recording Industry Association’s award for Best Jazz Artists on Recordin 1992. That was a pretty big moment because it was my first band I was leading and my first recording under my own name. 

Do you have a favourite memory of your time at MacEwan?

I remember the performances and those musical moments when you're experiencing playing with your friends for the first time. I remember all the great people I got to know, be they fellow students or my teachers. But mostly I remember my realization that I’d finally found what it was I was meant to do with my life, and that was music. It’s so gratifying to have so many lifelong  relationships from my days at MacEwan that have sustained me throughout my career. It's a big honour to be named a Distinguished Alumni of MacEwan University and I have fellow saxophonist and the current Chair of the Music department, Ray Baril to thank for nominating me. I don't often find myself sitting around thinking about what I've achieved in my career because I'm focused on what I'm going to do next. It’s like looking through an old photo album and remembering a show you played long ago. It just validates your life's work, really. Forty years as a professional musician is a long time, but there's still lots more music left to play. That's what I focus on.