D. E. Chung
Percussionist Songwriter Producer
Biography
Born & raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, D. E. Chung grew up listening to an eclectic mix of music, from funk to country & western. He began studying conga drumming while at Berkeley High School and soon became the drummer for the Afro-Haitian dance classes and the Jazz & Symphonic bands. He also studied music under the direction of Bill Bell at The College of Alameda and Elvo D'Amante at Laney College in Oakland. This is when he began studying & piano, Jazz composition & arranging as well as delving deeper into traditional Afro-Cuban & Afro-Brazilian music and culture. He later went on to study Business at Cal State Hayward after a brief conversation with his then classmate, drummer Will Kennedy who advised him to consider taking some business classes because "You're already playing music eventually you're gonna need to know about contracts & accounting for your money and stuff".
As a Sideman, he's played for crowds of up to 20,000 people at such venues and shows as The Chronicle Pavilion in Concord California, the Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, The Chicago Theater, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Black Filmmaker's Awards, the Gavin Convention, Kimball's East, Slim's AND Syndicated radio program the Tom Joyner Morning Show which was in 115 markets across the U.S. with 8 million listeners! He has performed with legendary R&B group ConFunkShun feat. Michael Cooper & Felton Pilate; Mic Gillette & Skip Mesquite(Tower of Power) ; Terry Bradford(Celine Dion, Rickey Martin, Tyrese, Dave Koz), Dr. Wayne Wallace , Tom Poole(Malo & Etta James), Michael Peloquin, Joel Smith(Edwin & Walter Hawkins Singers), Emage, William Kennedy(Yellow jackets), the late Garry Jackson, Billy Johnson(Santana, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Joyce Cooling), bass virtuoso Troy Lampkins, Jamie Brewer(En Vogue, Joyce Cooling), Dozie.
In the 90's, he co-found a local jazz/funk group called KnowJazz, in this group he played both keys & percussion, he co-produced their vinyl EP titled "Unsigned and Ready to Deliver" & their full length CD, "Take a Hit of This..." At this time he also started a small record label StoneGroove Records. The debut release "Unsigned and Ready to Deliver" received rave reviews in HitMakers Magazine. After about 4 years, he left the group and began honing his skills as studio musician, songwriter, producer and engineer. He recorded with DJs Julius Papp and JayJay on "Shuffle Inc - The Shuffle EP Part 1" and as a Producer he has worked with such artists as;Guitarist Dave Lopez (currently of Flipsyde), rapper Simply E, Omega Rae, Kimbrely "Brely" Evans and Taura Stinson.
He has 2 solo releases "The DC Initiative" and "Clifton at Desmond" with a 3rd "The Little Red Box" scheduled for a 2011 release.
As a Bandleader, he has performed for San Francisco's Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival, The Stadium in Vacaville and has been featured on internet radio stations: SolarRadio.com in the UK; Syndicated radio on Cafe Jazz Radio in Toronto, Canada & Smooth Jazz Radio in Sydney, Australia. Dale also acts and starred in Filmmaker Stacy Nykole's award winning independent film, Unspoken.