Nathan Tate Davis (February 15, 1937 – April 8, 2018) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

who played the

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

, and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. He is known for his work with

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombone, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tub ...

and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

Career

Davis traveled extensively around Europe after World War II and moved to Paris in 1962. He held a Ph.D in Ethnomusicology from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and was a professor of music and director of jazz studies at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

from 1969, an academic program that he helped initiate. He was also founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Annual Jazz Seminar and Concert, the first academic jazz event of its kind in the United States. He also helped to found the university's William Robinson Recording Studio as well as establish the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame located in the school's

William Pitt Union The William Pitt Union, which was built in 1898 as the Hotel Schenley, is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus, and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. Designed ...

and the University of Pittsburgh-Sonny Rollins International Jazz Archives. Davis retired as director of the Jazz Studies Program at Pitt in 2013. Davis also served as the editor of the ''International Jazz Archives Journal''. One of Davis' best known musical associations was heading the Paris Reunion Band (1985–1989), which at different times included

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It ...

Kenny Drew Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist. Biography Drew was born on August 28, 1928, in New York City, United States, and he received piano lessons from the age of five. Feather, ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad (; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, Rhythm and blues, R&B, and Soul music, soul music and recorded with musicians s ...

, Dizzy Reece,

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influentia ...

, and Jimmy Woode. Davis also toured and recorded with the post-bop ensemble leading Roots which he formed in 1991. Davis composed various pieces, including a 2004 opera entitled ''Just Above My Head''. Davis died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, at the age of 81.

Awards and honors

On October 5, 2013, Davis was awarded the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation's BNY Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award at the

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Discography

As leader

*1965: ''The Hip Walk'' (with Carmell Jones,

Francy Boland François Boland (6 November 1929 – 12 August 2005) was a classically trained Belgian jazz composer and pianist. He first gained notice in 1949 and worked with Belgian jazz greats like Bobby Jaspar, and in 1955 he joined Chet Baker's quintet. ...

, Jimmy Woode,

) *1965: ''Peace Treaty'' (with

, Jean-Louis Chautemps, René Urtreger, Jimmy Woode, Kenny Clarke) *1965: ''Happy Girl'' (with Woody Shaw, Larry Young, Jimmy Woode, Billy Lewis Brooks) *1967: ''The Rules of Freedom'' (with

Hampton Hawes Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Early life Hampton Hawes was born on No ...

Jimmy Garrison James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967. Career Garrison was born in Miami, Florida, and moved when he was 1 ...

Art Taylor Arthur S. Taylor Jr. (April 6, 1929 – February 6, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, who "helped define the sound of modern jazz drumming".Watrous, Peter (February 7, 1995)"Art Taylor, 65, Jazz Drummer Who Inspired Young Musicians" ''The Ne ...

) *1969: ''Jazz Concert in a Benedictine Monastery'' *1971: ''Makatuka'' (with Nelson Harrison, Joe Kennedy, Don Depaotis, Mike Taylor, Virgil Walters, Wheeler Winstead) *1972: ''6th Sense in the 11th House'' (with

Roland Hanna Roland Pembroke Hanna (February 10, 1932 – November 13, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. Biography Hanna studied classical piano from the age of 11, but was strongly interested in jazz, having been introduced to i ...

, Richard Davis,

Alan Dawson Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929 – February 23, 1996) was an American jazz drummer and percussion teacher based in Boston. Biography Dawson was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army durin ...

) *1976: ''Suite for Dr. Martin Luther King'' *1976: ''If'' (with

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

, George Caldwell, Dave Palmar, Willie Amoaku) *1982: ''Faces of Love'' *1987: ''London by Night'' *1996: ''Nathan Davis'' *1998: ''Two Originals: Happy Girl & Hip Walk'' *1999: ''I'm a Fool to Want You'' *2003: ''Rules of Freedom'' *2006: ''Happy Girl'' *2009: ''The Best of 1965–76'' *2019: ''Live in Paris (The ORTF Recordings 1966–67)'' (with

Georges Arvanitas Georges Arvanitas (June 13, 1931 – September 25, 2005) was a French jazz pianist and organist. Life and career He was born in Marseille, a child of Greek immigrants from Constantinople. At the age of four he began studying piano and initially ...

Trio)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Nathan 1937 births 2018 deaths 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Musicians from Kansas City, Kansas American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz clarinetists American jazz flautists Hard bop musicians Wesleyan University alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty Musicians from Kansas Jazz musicians from Pittsburgh American male jazz musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American flautists