Kevin G. Davy (born 29 October 1961,

Nottingham, UK Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

) is a British

jazz trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

player,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

. He has recorded with and toured with

Finley Quaye Finley Quaye (born 25 March 1974, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best Male Solo Artist. His debut album, '' Maverick a Strike,'' a fusion of many styles ...

, Lamb,

Adam F Adam Fenton (born 8 February 1972), also known as Adam F, is an English record producer and DJ who has worked across various genres. He is also the co-founder of the drum and bass label Breakbeat Kaos along with DJ Fresh. He found initial succe ...

and

Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...

Secret Society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

. He has led the Kevin Davy Quartet (KDQ), D’Semble, and Kevin Davy's Monster Jam . In 1992 Davy was given the Manchester Jazz Musician of the Year Award by

BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

show ''The People''. Relocating to Manchester in 1986, Davy studied at the

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A) in General Arts (Humanities) in 1990. While enrolled there he attended the weekly

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

workshops organized by Colin Stansfield in the nearby All Saints College, subsumed into the campus of

Career

Davy remained in Manchester until 1994, playing at venues such as Band on the Wall and PJ Bells, where he was booked for residencies. He also led open jam sessions for musicians and vocalists of varying skills to participate. These sessions ran for nine years. In 1994, after being recommended by the late Colin Goddard, former studio owner of Moonrakers Studio, Manchester, Davy relocated to London, where he took up the post of trumpet chair and actor/musician at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

on their production of the Brecht/Weil, work;''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'' directed by

Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film and theatre director and producer. Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal National Theatre, and opera director for Opera North and ...

, and under the musical direction of Gary Yershon, and Kate Edgar. Collaborations with writer SuAndi followed, leading to Davy's participation in community-driven projects and a long-standing international tour with the show ''

Afrika Afrika Afrika may refer to the continent of Africa or to: Arts and entertainment * ''Afrika'' (video game), for PlayStation 3 * "Afrika" (song), by Električni Orgazam * '' A.F.R.I.K.A.'', a 2002 South Korean film * ''Afrika'' (film), a 1973 Italia ...

'' (Oct 2008 – March 2009), conceived by

André Heller Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter, and actor. Biography Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manuf ...

and choreographed by Georges Mamboye. Produced by

Matthias Hoffman Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. Notable people Notable people named Matthias include the following: Religion * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscar ...

. Davy has continued to develop his own writing and producing, via his group the Kevin Davy Quartet (KDQ). This unison resulted in the album ''The Thoth Project'', which has been performed at several venues in the UK, including in the Attic at the Hackney Picturehouse. Davy has collaborated with jazz musicians from several countries, including Sangoma Everett (the US, now based in France), Pibo Marquez(Venezuela), Paul Shigihara (Japanese-German), Doudou Gouirand (France),

Roman Rahut Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

(Poland), Krzesimir Debski (Poland), and Claude Deppa (South Africa). He has also worked with Crass Agenda. Following work on his album, The Thoth Project, Davy resumed freelancing on trumpet in London with a number of artists, including

, Lamb, and more recently,

Cymande Cymande (pronounced ) are a British funk group that was originally active in the early 1970s. The band name derives from a calypso word for "dove", which symbolises peace and love; "Dove" is also the title of one of their best-known songs. Wi ...

. He has also periodically held revivals of "Kevin Davy's Monster Jam", at various London venues, combining musicians and vocalists from around the U.K. Most recently he has hosted jam sessions at the Rich Mix venue in Bethnal Green, and at the Cat's Back in Wandsworth. During one of the original Monster Jams held at Band On The Wall, in Manchester between 1995–96, he met Andy Barlow and Lou Rhodes of Lamb, leading to touring and recording sessions; playing on Lamb's first two albums. Davy began playing in the emerging

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

and

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

genres. He remains an occasional guest performer with Lamb, and featured on their recent album: "The Secret of Letting Go". Kevin also worked with producers, Adam F,

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the Rock music, rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo ...

, and Hideaki Takahashi aka MJUC. He has more recently performed in the UAE, India and Sri Lanka, in tribute to the Trumpet legend;

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, on jazz festivals, also headlining at London's Jazz Cafe, in a tribute to the great

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

. Davy is also in demand for recordings and studio work as well as live performances. Kevin G Davy, has been a presenter on Jazz London Radio for the last three years, with his weekly podcast entitled; Kevin Davy's D'semble, which is a reprise of the moniker he used for his group formed in Manchester in 1990.

Discography

* ''Savage Utopia'' - Crass Agenda (

Babel Label Babel Label is a jazz record label founded in 1994 by Oliver Weindling that specialises in British jazz, particularly the London scene. It released more than 130 recordings in its first 20 years, two of which were nominated for the Mercury Pri ...

, 2004) * ''Grand Cross'' -

(

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

, 1999) (Japan only)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Kevin 1961 births British jazz trumpeters British male trumpeters Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Living people 21st-century British trumpeters 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians