Jazz Articles about Steve Davis

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 ...

Steve Davis: Portrait In Sound

by Jim Santella
April 1, 2001

Mainstream jazz has produced quite a few superior trombonists. From early tailgate counterpoint to swing era melody maker and hard bop leader, the artist has always been able to make use of his instrument's unique characteristics. Unlike piano and vibraphone, the trombone is able to bend pitches and slide from one pitch to the next. In the early days, it was a useful gimmick. Professional players later put aside the comical aspects of the instrument in favor of better sounding ...

Steve Davis: Portrait In Sound

by David Adler
October 1, 2000

Chick Corea’s Stretch Records has put out fine albums by Steve Wilson, Avishai Cohen, and Tim Garland — all members of Corea’s newest band, Origin. Now Origin’s Steve Davis takes his turn with Portrait In Sound, which highlights the trombonist’s gratifying interplay with vibraphonist Steve Nelson. Davis also enlists the support of pianist David Hazeltine, bassist Nat Reeves, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.Aside from a straightforward reading of “Darn That Dream," a faster-than-usual “I’m Old Fashioned," and the Corea-penned ...