Jazz Articles about Steve Davis

About Steve Davis

Live Review

Steve Davis Quintet at Smoke Jazz Club

by G. Pascal Zachary
November 23, 2024

Steve Davis Quintet SMOKE Jazz & Supper Club New York, NY November 7, 2024 Steve Davis is a compelling trombonist who has gained deserved attention from his periodic gigs at Smoke and for his excellent recent recordings on Smoke's Sessions label, which draws chiefly on live performances from this cozy club on Broadway in upper Manhattan. I heard the opening set on Thursday November 7 when the Davis and his current all-star group released a ...

Album Review

Matt Dwonszyk: Donny Time: The Music of Don DePalma

Read "Donny Time: The Music of Don DePalma" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
October 31, 2024

Bassist, composer and educator Matt Dwonszyk, based in New York City since 2023, is actually from Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and for some time was part of the Hartford jazz scene, where he taught and performed with the late pianist and educator Don DePalma. DePalma was a legend of that scene, playing a vital role in its development and becoming a co-founder of the legendary 880 Club. Dwonszyk and friends pay tribute to DePalma on the outstanding Donny Time: The Music ...

Album Review

Michael Dease: Grove's Groove

Read "Grove's Groove" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 6, 2024

The story of Michael Dease's journey from sax to trombone and back again is one any parent of a musically talented child could recognize. Dease started out as an alto saxophonist in middle school. Sometime later, he wanted to switch to the baritone sax. He worked at it. And worked at it some more. His combination of talent and practice paid off. Dease became something of a young monster on the horn, outplaying his senior bandmates in high school. But ...

Album Review

Neil Swainson Sextet: Here for a While

Read "Here for a While" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 9, 2024

Neil Swainson's Here For A While is a tutorial in modern jazz composition and ensemble synergy. Swainson, a bassist of profound depth and melodic sensibility, has gathered a formidable sextet for this project, including Brad Turner on trumpet and flugelhorn, Kelly Jefferson on tenor andsoprano saxophones, Steve Davis on trombone, Renee Rosnes on piano and Quincy Davis on drums. Together, they bring to life nine compositions that are as intricate as they are engaging, each a testament to Swainson's skill ...

Album Review

One for All: Big George

Read "Big George" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
June 5, 2024

Smoke Sessions Records, based out of NYC's Smoke Jazz Club, has a fascinating recording model: artists play a few nights at the club, take a day off, and then go into a studio such as the famous Sear Sound to record their repertoire for release. They been putting out some excellent material, the latest of which is the first album in seven years from the sextet One for All. The title, Big George, reveals what sets this one apart from ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Blueslike

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

As the timeworn adage goes, sometimes the best things come from situations where one is asked to function in less than ideal circumstances. When you have little time to analyze things and go with pure instincts, there's an air of veracity and spontaneity to the results that is seldom arrived at by any other means. Although the hard bop collective One For Allhas forged a shared identity through regular gigs and a growing catalog of recordings for several labels, including ...

Liner Notes

One For All: Live at Smoke Vol.1

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 13, 2024

Aside from the musical fireworks that make the enclosed sides noteworthy, there are additional factors that mark Live at Smoke as a major event. For one thing, this “on location" recording is one of the rare live dates to grace the Criss Cross catalog. Furthermore, it serves as a perfect summation up to this point of One For All's musical fortunes as heard in the same venue that fostered the ensemble's very formation. Back in the mid-'80s, drummer Joe Farnsworth, ...