Ben Davis is a cellist from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

known for his improvisation. His group Basquiat Strings was nominated for the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

in 2007. He is a member of the F-IRE Collective. His group, Basquiat Strings, originated as a standard string quartet (two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s, a

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and a cello). Only later did cellist Davis decide to add

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and drums "to strengthen the rhythmic accompaniment".BBC - Jazz Review - Ben Davis, Basquiat Strings
/ref> Basquiat Strings were nominated for the 2007

. The band performed an Electric Prom in 2008 featuring NY sax player Elery Eskerlin. Ben Davis studied at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jaz ...

and later at the

Banff School of Fine Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

with

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

. He has since pursued a varied musical career encompassing classical, world, early music, jazz and experimental. He has performed with Ingrid Laubrock, Bobby McFerrin,

Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabag ...

, Simon Nabatov, Wadada Leo Smith, Tom Rainey, Tomeka Reid, Vincent Courtois,

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

, Chris Biscoe, Liam Noble, Stuart Hall, Hassan Erraji, Mulatu Astatke, Joglaresa, The Dufay Collective,

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ...

Christine Tobin Christine Tobin (born 7 January 1963, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish vocalist and composer from Dublin who has been part of the London jazz and improvising scene since the second half of the 1980s. She has been influenced by a diverse range of ...

, Steve Buckley, Huw Warren, Jason Yarde,

Julian Joseph Julian Raphael Nathaniel Joseph (born 11 May 1966) is a British jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster. Biography Joseph was born in London and attended Allfarthing Primary School and Spencer Park Secondary School in Wan ...

, and the

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra ( no, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Stavanger, Norway. The SSO principal venue is the Stavanger Concert Hall (Stavanger konserthus), performing in the Fartein Valen concert hall ...

. Ben moved to the Chicago USA in 2016 where he formed a trio with guitarist Sam Mosching and drummer Steve Hunt and a duo with guitarist Matt Gold.

Influences

Alongside the jazz and the classical influences, there are also

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

elements including Macedonian tapan rhythms and Hungarian processional marches.

Discography

Albums as a leader

* The Ben Davis Group (with

Paul Clarvis Paul Clarvis is an English percussionist. Biography Born in Enfield, Clarvis was the late Leonard Bernstein's preferred percussionist in London and featured as a soloist on the last night of the Proms in 1996 in a concerto for saxophone and ...

and Chris Biscoe) * Basquiat Strings (with

Seb Rochford Sebastian Rochford is a British drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations. Early life Rochford was born in Aberdeen and has a larg ...

) - Basquiat Strings * Basquiat Strings - Part Two * Courtship - Ben Davis Solo Cello

Albums as a sideman

* ''

Forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimin ...

'' -

Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildha ...

* Oriole - Song for the Sleeping *

Oriole Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

- Migration * Oriole - Every New Day * Julia Biel - Not Alone * Orbestra - Transdanubian Swineherds * Joglaresa - Magdalena * Clown Revisited - Flashes of a Normal World'' * Butterfly Wing - Le Depart * Fumi Okiji's Old Time Jazz Band - Old Fashion * Alex Hutton Trio - songs From the Seven Hills * Yurodny - Evenset * Laura Jurd - Landing Ground * Ingrid Laubrock Octet - Zurich Concert * Zac Gvirtzman - Monk Spent Youth * Simon Nabatov - String Trio * Huw Warren - A Barrel Organ Far From Home * Polar Bear - Polar Bear

References

External links

Ben Davis site

Ben Davis' bio at Trinity College of Music
British cellists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) FMR Records artists {{UK-jazz-musician-stub