David grew up in Cornwall, and first started playing the piano aged 8. He was lucky enough to have teachers who introduced him to jazz from an early age, and soon became involved in various local groups.

However, the real turning point for David came with involvement with the National Youth Jazz Collective (NYJC) led by Issie Barrett. David twice attended the NYJC summer school, where he received tuition from such luminaries as John Hollenbeck, Mark Lockheart, Nikki Iles and Martin Speake, as well as performing at venues including the Yehudi Menuhin Hall, the Barbican and King's Place. Following the 2011 Summer School, David was named as a "One To Watch" by Jazz FM DJ Helen Mayhew in Jazzwise magazine.

The next step was studying on the renowned Jazz Degree at Birmingham Conservatoire, where David was taught by musicians such as John Turville, Mike Williams, Percy Pursglove, Liam Noble and Hans Koller, as well as visiting jazz legends such as Dave Holland, John Taylor, Mark Turner, Joe Lovano and Jeff Ballard. This also included some memorable performance opportunities - playing "Birth of the Cool" in Birmingham Town Hall to celebrate Gil Evans' centenary, playing in the house band at Cheltenham Jazz Festival jam sessions, and an exchange programme with Trondheim Conservatoire that led to performing at Molde Jazz Festival, Norway. David was also the recipient of the 2014 Mike Gibbs Prize for composition for his arrangement of a piece by the groundbreaking chamber-jazz trio Azimuth, which was performed by original member Norma Winstone with the Conservatoire Jazz Orchestra.

Since graduating with a first class honours degree in Summer 2015, David is involved in performance, education and mentoring work for Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall's Jazzlines department, with examples ranging from supporting Kenny Garrett at the Town Hall to working as a teacher on the annual Summer School for schoolchildren. He is highly in demand as a sideman, performing regularly on the Birmingham scene, and with other artists nationwide including Simon Spillett, Gareth Lockrane, Julian Siegel and Osian Roberts. He also gained recognition for his work with funk organ trio Three Step Manoeuvre, with their 2016 debut album Three Step Strut being named in the Top Ten of the year by Funkatopia.

In late 2016, David was the recipient of a Help Musicians UK Development Award, to go towards a new project featuring his septet and the Estonian singer Maria Vali.  This led to the album "Alphabets", which was released in February 2018 to considerable critical acclaim, and accompanied by a 10-date album launch tour supported by Arts Council England. Now based in London, David is working towards a second septet album to feature master New York guitarist Peter Bernstein, to be recorded (circumstances allowing!) in the next year.