Jazz Articles about Steve Davis

Steve Davis: Eloquence

by AAJ Italy Staff
December 4, 2009

La presenza nei crediti del pianista Hank Jones, classe 1918, rende Eloquence un interessante documento sonoro ancor prima di essere ascoltato. E la performance del leggendario pianista si rivela, anche dopo aver pigiato il tasto “play," una delle tante cose buone contenute in questi 70 minuti di musica ad alto tasso di qualità. Ma andiamo con ordine. Registrato in un paio di session nell'ottobre 2007 e mixato quasi due anni dopo, Eloquence prende vita dalle idee del trombonista/compositore/insegnante Steve Davis ...

Steve Davis: Outlook

by George Kanzler
January 26, 2009

Trombonist Steve Davis has spent much of his two-decade jazz career in larger ensembles--big bands but most notably sextets, from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Chick Corea's Origin and the co-op band One for All to Benny Golson's New Jazztet. But when Davis leads his own bands or puts out his own records he thinks smaller. Outlook is six quintet, two quartet tracks, with Davis joined by pianist David Bryant, bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer Eric McPherson and alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo ...

Steve Davis Quintet at Cecil's Jazz Club

by David A. Orthmann
August 3, 2007

Steve Davis Quintet Cecil's Jazz Club West Orange, NJ June 15, 2007

The first of Steve Davis's seven recordings as a leader for the Criss Cross Jazz imprint, entitled The Jaunt, refers to the 110 mile trip from the trombonist's longtime base in Hartford, CT to the jazz Mecca, New York City. Although each of the Criss Cross sides has documented Davis as a savvy organizer of small mainstream ensembles, fans were more likely ...

Steve Davis Quartet: Alone Together

by CJ Shearn
May 20, 2007

Trombonist Steve Davis has been a veteran of the New York scene for many years. Hailing from Binghamton, New York, he quickly established a presence as one of the best trombonists in the area as a teenager. Upon his arrival in New York City in the mid-1980s, Davis' talents were noticed by such luminaries as drummer Art Blakey and saxophonist Jackie McLean. Davis' quartet release on Mapleshade, Alone Together , is a tip of the hat to his former boss--a ...

Steve Davis: Update

by C. Andrew Hovan
August 21, 2006

For many years now, Steve Davis has been the torchbearer for an instrument that is often neglected among today's younger musicians. Often associated with swing and Dixieland styles, the trombone is no less a communicative voice for creative jazz expression than any other brass or woodwind instrument. Capable of using the 'bone as the sole lead instrument in a quartet or part of a larger ensemble, as when he fills out the front line for One For All, Davis has ...

Steve Davis Quartet at Cecil's Jazz Club

by David A. Orthmann
April 13, 2006

Steve Davis Quartet Cecil's Jazz Club West Orange, NJ March 17, 2006

Great jazz musicians always find a way to rise above adverse performance conditions. Despite a sparse St Patrick's Day audience, the constant ringing of a cell phone, and a bartender whose voice boomed over the band, Steve Davis' Quartet played a riveting opening set. Davis' affable remarks between songs, and the band's frequent exchanging of smiles and knowing glances, let the assembled ...

Steve Davis: Meant to Be

by Andrew Rowan
January 19, 2005

On Meant to Be, trombonist Steve Davis features all original material, creating and sustaining a positive impression from the first track to the last. The band plays as a unit, the solos are more than mere scale runs, and each of the compositions has an individual character that distinguishes it from its surroundings. Take “Choices," for instance. The tune is taken at a loping, leisurely pace that opens into 4/4 for the blowing choruses. Embedded in the structure ...