American alto saxophonist David Valdez recently relocated to Da Nang, Vietnam from Mexico City. Valdez trained with George Garzone, Herb Pomeroy and Joseph Viola at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and has also lived and worked in New York City, San Francisco, Santa Fe (NM), and Portland (OR). Valdez has released six CDs as a leader, his most recent CD Shades of Happiness was released on the Kansas City ARC record label in 2017. His Oasis CD (Diatic Records) received radio airplay in 14 countries. Valdez has performed with Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bob Mintzer, Lewis Nash, Matt Wilson, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski, Charlie Hunter, Gary Smulyan’s Saxophone Mosaic, Bob Reynolds, Gilad Hekselman, Nancy King, Bobby Watson, Bob Mover, Jorge Rossi. Some of his notable students are Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nicole Glover, and Aaron Johnson. Valdez is now focussing on teaching and performing around Asia, after spending last year touring Mexico.