Richard Davis

Two major artists record under the name "Richard Davis." 1. A jazz bassist. 2. A house producer. 1) Acoustic bass maestro equally at home in jazz, European classical, and American popular music, who was born in Chicago on April 15, 1930. Richard Davis is an international performing musician and Professor of Bass (European Classical and Jazz), Jazz History and combo improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Chicago born, he came to the UW-Madison in 1977 after spending 23 years in New York City establishing himself as one of the world's premier bass players. Downbeat International Critics Poll named him Best Bassist from 1967-74. He has recorded a dozen albums as a leader and has appeared on over 2000 recordings/jingles as a sideman. Some of his performance/recording credits include Sarah Vaughan, Eric Dolphy, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band, Dexter Gordon, Ahmad Jamal and a host of other notables. In modern popular music, he has appeared on recordings by Judy Collins, Van Morrison (playing bass on the seminal Astral Weeks), and Loudon Wainright III. Mr. Davis is equally at home in the world of European classical music, having played under the batons of George Szell, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, Gunther Schuller, and Leonard Bernstein. His versatility as a bassist keeps him in demand for worldwide concert appearances. For nearly fifty years he has drawn audiences in Japan, Europe, Russia, South America, Puerto Rico, Cuba, The West Indies, Hong Kong , Israel and United States. His most recent CD release (May 2000) , The Bassists: Homage to Diversity (King Records) was recorded in Japan. This CD was inspired by experiences related to diversity dialogue. His second CD with King records So In Love was assembled with the idea of embracing the oneness of humankind. In 1993, he founded the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists, Inc. which annually brings in 17 masterful bass instructors/performers to teach young bassists ages 3-18. Prof. Davis has received honorary doctorate degrees in Musical Arts and Humane Letters, and the Hilldale Award for distinguished teaching from former Chancellor Donna Shalala. In 2002 he received the Urban League's Whitney M. Young Award, the N.A.A.C.P. W.E.B.DuBois Advocates award and many other community based awards. Richard Davis has been a faculty member at UW Madison for 25 years. He has been vitally active in UW and community governance and service. 2) Electro House/Minimal House artist Richard Davis (b. Dennis Kensington in England, n.d.) creates staggering minimal-house by adding pure intensity, propulsive beats and a glimpse of pop-appeal. His amazing music is defined through some sweet melancholic viewpoint, warm subbasses, clear clicks and plops, shuffling hihats and a wonderfull touching voice to keep you warm and the dance floor hot. He records for Kitty-yo Records, among other labels. His music brings a complexity and evidence of compositional layering not generally associated with Detroit House, which rewards the listener for paying attention to the details that Davis subtly conveys. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.