David began taking music lessons at the age of six and later took up the guitar at the age of fourteen. At age 17 he was selected to perform in the Encore Concert  for outstanding HSC music students at the Sydney Opera House. He enrolled at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2004 and was awarded the Patricia Bell grant for achieving the highest audition mark. David graduated in 2008 with first class honours completing his final thesis on the compositional development of early avant-guarde jazz pioneer Jimmy Giuffre. He has performed with James Morrison, Il Divo, Patrizio Buanne, The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, Ilan Kidron (Potbellez), The 10 Guitars Project, Craig Scott, Judy Bailey, Jonathon Zwartz, Elana Stone, Virna Sanzone, The Enormous Horns, Slide McBride and the Usual Suspects. David was a finalist in the prestigious Wangaratta jazz competition in 2007.

 

David has worked in many areas behind the scenes of Sydney jazz community, most notably in his role as co-artistic director for the Jazzgroove Association (2010-2012) as well as co-artistic director/administrator at the Bohemian Grove venue (2009-2011). His current creative project, The Dave de Vries Quartet, released their debut CD in 2019.