Walter Davis Jr. Explained

Walter Davis Jr.
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Date:September 2, 1932
Birth Place:Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Death Place:New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse:Mayme Watts
Genre:Jazz, bebop
Occupation:Musician
Instrument:Piano
Years Active:1940s–1990
Label:Blue Note, Denon, Palcoscenico, Mapleshade, SteepleChase
Past Member Of:Jazz Messengers

Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932  - June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist.

Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never becoming a high-profile name even within the jazz community. Davis played with Babs Gonzales' Three Bips & a Bop as a teen, then moved from Richmond to New York in the early 1950s. He played with Max Roach and Charlie Parker, recording with Roach in 1953.

He joined Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1956, and toured the Middle East and South America. He also played in Paris with Donald Byrd in 1958 and with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers in 1959.

After retiring from music for a while to run his tailor shop, Davis returned in the 1960s, producing records and writing arrangements for a local New Jersey group. He studied music in India in 1979, and played with Sonny Rollins in the early 1970s.

Biography

Davis was born in Richmond, Virginia and raised in East Orange, New Jersey. His mother played gospel music and he had uncles who were pianists. As a teenager, he performed with Babs Gonzales in Newark.[1] In the 1950s, Davis recorded with Melba Liston and Max Roach. He played with Roach, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1958, he played with trumpeter Donald Byrd at Le Chat Qui Pêche in Paris and shortly after realized his dream of becoming pianist and composer-arranger for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Davis married songwriter Mayme Watts, who was performing as a vocalist with the Walter Davis Jr. Trio.[2]

Although he retired from music in the 1960s to work as a tailor, painter, and designer, he returned to his music career later that decade, and in the 1970s he performed with Sonny Rollins and again with the Jazz Messengers. He recorded with many other prominent jazz musicians, including Kenny Clarke, Sonny Criss, Jackie McLean, Pierre Michelot and Archie Shepp.[3] Davis was known as an interpreter of the music of Bud Powell,[4] but also recorded an album capturing the compositional and piano style of Thelonious Monk. Several of his compositions served as titles for albums by Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Combining traditional harmonies with modal patterns and featuring numerous rhythmic shifts along with internal melodic motifs within operatic, aria-like sweeping melodies, Davis's compositions included "Scorpio Rising", "Backgammon", "Uranus", "Gypsy Folk Tales", "Jodi", and "Ronnie Is a Dynamite Lady".

Davis had an occasional role as the piano player on the CBS television comedy Frank's Place. He also contributed to the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood film Bird (1988).

Death

Davis died in New York City on June 2, 1990, aged 57, from complications of liver and kidney disease.[5]

Discography

As leader

Year recordedTitleLabelNotes
1959Davis CupBlue NoteQuintet, with Donald Byrd (trumpet), Jackie McLean (alto sax), Sam Jones bass), Art Taylor (drums)
1977IlluminationDenonWith Carter Jefferson (tenor sax), Charles Sullivan (trumpet), Jeremy Steig (flute), Buster Williams (bass), Bruno Carr, Art Blakey and Tony Williams (drums); Naná Vasconcelos (percussion), Milton Frustino (guitar) added for one track
1979?Night SongDenonTrio, with Tom Barney (bass, electric bass), Kenny Washington (drums)
Abide with MeDenon
1979?Blues WalkRed
A Being Such As YouRed
1979?UranusPalcoscenico
1979?400 Years Ago Tomorrow
1981?Live au DreherTrio, with Pierre Michelot (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums); in concert
1987In Walked TheloniousMapleshadeSolo piano
1989Scorpio RisingSteepleChaseTrio, with Santi Debriano (bass), Ralph Peterson (drums)
1990?Jazznost: Moscow-Washington Jazz Summit

As sideman

With Art Blakey

With Nick Brignola

With Donald Byrd

With Sonny Criss

With Dameronia

With Walt Dickerson

With Teddy Edwards

With Dizzy Gillespie

With Slide Hampton

With Etta Jones

With Philly Joe Jones

With Jackie McLean

With Hank Mobley

With Max Roach

With Julian Priester

With Sonny Rollins

With Charlie Rouse

With Art Taylor

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Feather . Leonard . The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz . 978-0195320008 . 171.
  2. Jet Magazine, Vol 38, No. 10, June 11, 1970, p. 33
  3. Web site: Walter Davis Jr. . 2023-07-18 . www.bluenote.com.
  4. Goldsher, Alan (2002). Hard Bop Academy: The Sidemen of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, p. 94. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard; .
  5. News: Watrous . Peter . 1990-06-04 . Walter Davis Jr., 57, Jazz Pianist Who Played Bud Powell's Be-Bop . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-18 . 0362-4331.