Quincy Davis

Quincy Davis, born in Grand Rapids, MI, comes from a very musical family. He began taking drum lessons at age 6 and often would play with his brother Xavier Davis (piano) in their basement. In his elementary and middle school bands, he also played trumpet and tuba.

His formal musical studies began during his 11th grade year at Interlochen Arts Academy (IAA). There he studied classical percussion as well as trap-­‐set drumming. IAA is where he received his first experience playing with a jazz band. IAA proved to be an important contribution to Davis’ future successes.

In 1995, Davis graduated from IAA and began college at Western Michigan University. There he studied with drum master, Billy Hart. Along with learning more about the drums, Mr. Hart instilled in Davis a deep knowledge of music, which has proven to be very important to his career. During these collegiate years, Davis played at various collegiate jazz festivals where notable musicians like Benny Green, Bunky Green, Jon Faddis, Roy Haynes, Carl Allen, Louis Hayes, and Wallace Roney heard and recognized Davis’ talents with written accolades and awards.

After graduating in 1999, Davis taught elementary and middle school instrumental music in the Grand Rapids area for one year before moving to New York City.

In the summer of 2000, Davis moved to New York City. He quickly became one of the sought after “young cats” on the New York jazz scene. In New York, Davis played with many great musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Frank Wess, Russell Malone, Eric Reed, Paquito D'Rivera, Kurt Elling, George Coleman, Eric Alexander, Mike Ledonne, Lew Tebakin, Vanessa, Rubin, Warren Vache, Ron Blake, Jon Faddis, Gerald Clayton, Clayton Brothers, Peter Berstein, David Hazeltine, Roy Hargrove, Randy Johnston, Laverne Butler, Paula West, Nicholas Payton, New York Voices, Ryan Kisor and Wessell Anderson.

Quincy can be heard on over 30 albums playing with many notable jazz artists including Tom Harrell, Gretchen Parlato, Bobby Watson, Benny Golson, Ted Rosenthal, Marcus Printup, Dave Stryker, Walt Weiskopf, Stefon Harris, Benny Green, Aaron Diehl, Bobby Watson, Xavier Davis, Danny Grissett, Vincent Gardner, Frank Wess, Darmon Meader, Sachal Vasandani and many more.

In 2010, Davis accepted a teaching position at the University of Manitoba (Canada) where he is currently the Assistant Professor of Jazz Drum-­‐Set studies. Though performing has been a major part of his life, he also has always enjoyed teaching and sharing his musical experiences with young and talented students. The University of Manitoba is proving to be a perfect fit for this highly respected performer/educator.

In 2014, Quincy released his debut recording as a leader Songs In the Key of Q which in it’s second week of being released, reached top 5 of Jazz Week’s jazz chart of new jazz recordings.
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