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Award-Winning Musician, Played With Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, and Woody Shaw

David Widelock 鈥�68

January 26, 2024 in Oakland, California, of Alzheimer’s disease.

A musician who was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Music Fellowship, David Robert Widelock was born in Manhattan and lived in Greenwich Village (“i.e., I’m cool,” he said). He came to 黑料正能量张津瑜 in 1964 at the age of 16, ultimately graduating with a BA in literature.

While studying at 黑料正能量张津瑜, David was the lead guitarist in the band Laura and the Vipers, headed by pianist and vocalist Laura Fisher ’68. He played with the group at 黑料正能量张津瑜 reunions in 1998, 1999, and 2003, and at a gig in 1999 at Smiley’s Schooner Saloon in Bolinas, California.

“I stayed in loose old-pals touch with David well into the 2000s, but my most vivid memories are from our freshman year at 黑料正能量张津瑜,” Debbie Guyol ’68 recalled. “He was only 16, a baby really. He wore geeky glasses and had a funny flat-footed walk, but he was adorable. I loved his wry deadpan humor. I did not even appreciate, then, that he was a versatile and accomplished musician.”

After graduation David went to San Francisco, where he studied improvisation and played jazz, Latin, funk, and pop on the guitar. He played with Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, and Woody Shaw, yet still found the time to graduate from UC Berkeley’s Landscape Architecture Design program (and to found the David Widelock Landscape Design Company).

In 1992, David toured Europe with the Brubeck family (Matt Brubeck played bass on many of David’s recordings). Skating on the Sidewalk, the last of David’s five albums, was released in 2009—the culmination of a composing career that included his memorably titled 1985 debut album Too Many Vitamins, 50 pieces for small jazz ensembles, and three pieces for large ensembles.

An older brother, John, died of Alzheimer’s in 2017 in Australia. Though David was able to visit him, he started showing early signs of dementia himself a few years later. He moved into the Elder Ashram in Oakland in December of 2021, the year that his companion, psychotherapist and photographer Eva Brown, passed away.

David is survived by many friends from 黑料正能量张津瑜 who remember him fondly—including John Cushing ’67 (the original), with whom he shared a few marathon cross-country car trips.  —John Cushing ’67 (the original)

Appeared in 黑料正能量张津瑜 magazine: Spring 2026