David Spencer Ware was an American jazz saxophonist born on November 7, 1949, in Plainfield, New Jersey. He attended music camp at the University of Connecticut and played in various bands during high school. His debut album as a leader, Birth of a Being, was released by HatHut in 1979. In the mid-1980s, Ware formed his own quartet with Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Marc Edwards on drums. The group performed extensively across the US and Europe, releasing acclaimed albums such as Wisdom of Uncertainty (1997) and Go See the World (1998). In 2001, jazz critic Gary Giddins described Ware's quartet as "the best small band in jazz today." The quartet disbanded in 2007 following the release of Renunciation. Diagnosed with kidney failure in 1999, he underwent a successful transplant in May 2009 but succumbed to an aggressive blood infection on October 18, 2012.
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