Jazz Articles about Steve Davis

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 ...

Steve Davis: Systems Blue

by David A. Orthmann
May 2, 2002

Indicative of formative experiences in the bands of Art Blakey and Jackie McLean, as well as his current association with the cooperative sextet One For All, Steve Davis’ Systems Blue encompasses many of the characteristics of bop and hard bop without sounding stalled in a bygone era. On his fifth date for the Criss Cross label, the trombonist and prolific composer favors selections from the American Popular Songbook. While he frequently alters the forms and harmonic designs in engaging ways, ...

One For All: Live at Smoke, Volume 1

by David A. Orthmann
February 1, 2002

As anyone who frequents jazz clubs will attest, there are nights that live on in memory for years after the last note fades. Aside from basic details easily recalled (personnel, tunes, arrangements, etc.), what really matters is the way the music made us feel. On these rare occasions, the sounds were so potent that, for a time, nothing else mattered and all worldly concerns yielded to the happenings on stage. In search of another incredible experience, we keep coming back ...

One For All: Live at Smoke- Volume 1

by C. Andrew Hovan
January 1, 2002

Growing out of a weekly jam session that drummer Joe Farnsworth used to lead at a New York club called Augie’s, the hard bop ensemble One For All now encompasses a pool of leaders who still manage to get together and cultivate the kind of musical empathy that they’ve developed over the years. After two initial albums for the Sharp Nine label, the group jumped ship to Criss Cross Jazz where the majority of the guys cut records of their ...