David Z has died, the producer who helped launch Prince and the “Minneapolis Sound”

David Rivkin, known in the music world as David Z, has died at the age of 78. He was a sound engineer, producer and musician who played a decisive role in the birth of the celebrated "Minneapolis Sound" and in the early success of Prince. The news was reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Although he always kept a low profile, David Z played a key role in launching the career of the man behind "Purple Rain". In 1976, after meeting Prince in Minneapolis, he recorded the demos that helped the young musician land his first record deal with Warner Records. The collaboration continued in the following years, eventually including work on the track "Kiss", released in 1986 with The Revolution. "David was the secret ingredient in a lot of musical projects. He always stayed very quiet about his work and almost never talked about the contribution he made. His importance to the Minneapolis music scene is beyond question," Owen Husney, Prince's first manager, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

In an interview given to a podcast in 2023, David Z himself recalled Prince as an artist of extraordinary talent, but also an extremely demanding collaborator. His official website describes him as a central figure in the development of the "Minneapolis Sound", thanks to his innovative use of drum machines, samplers and production techniques that helped shape a musical language capable of blending funk, rock and synth-pop, deeply influencing the music of the 1980s.
Over the course of his career, David Rivkin also collaborated with Etta James, contributing to the albums "Let's Roll" and "Blues To The Bone", both of which won Grammy Awards. A versatile musician, he worked as a guitarist, sound engineer and producer, and was also a member of Lipps Inc., the disco group that topped charts worldwide with the hit "Funkytown".

His brother Bobby Z was also a close collaborator of Prince, serving as drummer in the Minneapolis musician's band.

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