Results for "Xavier Davis"

Xavier Davis

Xavier Davis is an accomplished pianist, composer and arranger. His debut recording "Dance of Life" was released on Metropolitan Records in 1999. The CD features the talents of Don Braden, Dwayne Burno and Carl Allen. Xavier's compositions, "Dance of Life" and "The Plan Unknown," appear on the CD along with his arrangements of some classic standards. "The pianist [Xavier Davis] simply knows how to make every note on his instrument sing, and he invariably finds the richest area of the keyboard for voicing his chords." said writer Bob Blumenthal. Jazz Times reviewer John Murph reviewed the CD in the January/February 2000 issue of the magazine and said "...the music exudes a mature, nonchalant ease and cozy empathy that make this...a rewarding listen." Down Beat gave the CD, "Dance of Life," four stars in its January 2000 issue and said, "Davis steps out with an accomplished debut." Xavier's second recording as a leader, "Innocence of Youth," was released in April of 2002 by Fresh Sounds New Talent

Steps Taken

By Eli Howell

Label: D Clef
Released: 2026
Track listing: One For Steve; I Remember Al; For Garrison; A Clear Sky; One For Steve; Reimagined; Alone Together; Say When; Dear Helen; A Vontade Mesmo

Lineage

By Andrew Kim

Label: Origin Records
Released: 2026
Track listing: Kimposter; The World Falls Away; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; Cube Steak; Nostos; Welcome Home; Discovered Ease; Bit of Heaven; Awaken; Stella by Starlight.

Cube Steak

September 14, 2026

Album: Lineage
By Andrew Kim
Label: Origin Records
Released: 2026
Duration: 04:51

One For Steve

June 26, 2026

Album: Steps Taken
By Eli Howell
Label: D Clef
Released: 2026
Duration: 05:49

Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of A New Clarinet Renaissance

by John Chacona
June 8, 2026

The clarinet occupies an unusual space in jazz in the 2020s. Once a lead instrument with advocates who graced the covers of fanzines for music and popular culture, the clarinet now stands 20 Feet From Stardom as the title of the 2013 documentary film about background singers described. It's a common enough double for reed players, ...

Eli Howell: Steps Taken

by Jack Bowers
June 4, 2026

Picture this: Having assembled a supporting cast, finalized the playlist and booked a studio, you are ready to make the debut recording as leader of your own ensemble, only to learn that, hours earlier, said studio in East Lansing, Michigan, had been devastated by a tornado. That is  exactly what happened to trombonist Eli Howell in ...

Michael Dease: MSU Jazz Trombones: Spartan Strong

by Jack Bowers
January 16, 2026

Michael Dease, widely admired as one of the world's foremost jazz trombonists but rather less-known as an educator, dons his professorial garb on Spartan Strong, supervising a splendid session by a special corps of undergrads (and students in his trombone studio) who together comprise the MSU (Michigan State University) Jazz Trombones, twenty-three members in all when ...

Margherita Fava: Murrina

by Geannine Reid
January 4, 2026

The hum of modern jazz is strong from the first notes of Murrina. Margherita Fava emerges as a creative force at the piano with her crystalline single notes and cascade of piano chords that shimmer with the microcosms of the modern jazz piano tradition. Recorded in the autumn of 2025, the album captures a trio that performs ...

In the Groove: Live at The Alluvion

By Anthony Stanco

Label: OA2 Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: T. Sea; Say You're Mine; Riptide; Pyramid Point; In the Groove; Hey Cute One; Tales; Sonny Boy; Just a Moment.