Jazz Articles about Steve Davis

Steve Davis: Images - The Hartford Suite

by Bruce Lindsay
June 6, 2010

Trombonist/composer Steve Davis was commissioned by the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz to compose Images: The Hartford Suite, with track dedicated to a contemporary or historical Hartford figure or place. Thankfully, a detailed knowledge of Hartford, Connecticut is not a prerequisite for the enjoyment of this music; the talent and enthusiasm of the musicians accentuate this set of upbeat, positive, swinging tunes. This is the Davis quintet's second album, following Outlook (Posi-Tone Records, 2008). Every member of ...

Steve Davis: Images

by Dan Bilawsky
May 26, 2010

Images is trombonist Steve Davis' love letter to his hometown of West Hartford, CT. The ten pieces he wrote for the album, and which make up his “Hartford Suite," are all dedicated to people or places associated with this geographic region. While Davis' penchant for crisp swing and clear, lyrical lines plays a big part here, some compositional cunning--and some pieces that fall outside this general area--helps to keep things from falling into a stylistic rut. Dedicated ...

Steve Davis: Images - The Hartford Suite

by John Barron
May 23, 2010

Images--The Hartford Suite pays homage to the culture and history of Hartford, Connecticut, courtesy of trombonist/composer Steve Davis, a long time resident of the city and faculty member at the University of Hartford. The ten-part suite is a sizzling set of straight-ahead jazz; stimulating, melodic and swinging. Davis, who co-leads the acclaimed ensemble One For All, and has performed as a sideman with the likes of Jackie McLean and Art Blakey, has assembled an impressive quintet for the session, with ...

Steve Davis: Eloquence & Jam Session, Vol. 28

by George Kanzler
December 12, 2009

Steve DavisEloquenceJazz Legacy Productions2009 Various ArtistsJam Session Vol. 28SteepleChase2009 If today's jazz mainstream is anchored in bebop and hard bop, trombonist Steve Davis has superb credentials, from tenures with the final sextets of Art Blakey and Jackie McLean, plus Chick Corea's Origin and One for All, a sextet that carries on in the hard-swinging ...

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 ...