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DAVID GETZ

Dave received his M.F.A degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and shortly after was the recipient of a Fullbright  fellowship in painting from the U.S. government.  He spent the next year living in Krakow, Poland, painting, exhibiting his work and also playing drums with some of finest jazz musicians in Europe. Upon his return to San Francisco he was offered and accepted a position on the faculty of the Art Institute as an instructor of painting. In 1965 and 1966 Dave was very much a member of the S.F art scene, one of his paintings was accepted into the SF Museum of Modern Arts annual shows. He was painting, showing his work and teaching; it appeared he was well on his way to a successful career in the world of modern art, but then life took an unexpected turn.

In the winter of 1965-66 in a café downstairs from his loft while taking a break from painting, Dave met Peter Albin who played with, Big Brother and the Holding Co. One month later Dave became the new drummer for the group. Three months later Janis Joplin joined the band and, as the expression goes, ‘the rest is history.

The time from 1966 through 1968 was an incredible time in the history of music and culture in America and the world; Big Brother was close to the center of it all. The Band with Janis was one of the greatest bands in the history of rock music. In late summer and fall of 1968 “Cheap Thrills” was the number one record in the world for eight weeks. For Dave being part of the band in that time was perhaps the defining moment that has affected his life; it was also a roller-coaster ride from the bottom to the very top and then down again.

Today Dave Getz still lives in Marin Co CA. He is a father and grandfather and continues, as he has throughout his career to juggle art, music, teaching and his other passion, golf. He teaches and has taught both art and drumming at numerous schools including the College of Marin, Drake H.S., Novato H.S., San Marin H.S. and has been on the faculty of Jazz CampWest since 2004.

Dave also continues to pursue his work in the visual arts. In 2005 he was asked, along with eleven other Bay Area artists, including Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane, to paint an actual violin to be auctioned for the Marin Symphony. Dave used this opportunity to create an auto-biographical visual metaphor that was a break-through in his evolution as an artist