Charles Davis (saxophonist)

Charles Davis at the Unterfahrt jazz club (Munich 2009)

Charles Henry Davis (* 20th May 1933 in Goodman , Michigan; † 15. July 2016 ) was an American saxophonist of hard bop and Creative Jazz .

Live and act

Charles Davis grew up in Chicago , where he was taught from 1948 to 1950 at the Chicago School of Music and from 1949 to 1952 at DuSable High School and then studied with John Hauser . In 1954 he worked for Jack McDuff and for the next several years in the early formations of Sun Ra . Then he went to New York and worked with major musicians from the hard bop environment, such as Sam Jones , Johnny Griffin , Freddie Hubbard . Davis also accompanied the singers Dinah Washington , Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald . From 1959 to 1962 he played in the Kenny Dorham quintet . Davis then worked mainly with the innovators of jazz at the time, such as Cecil Taylor , Steve Lacy , Julian Priester , John Coltrane and the Jazz Composer's Orchestra , but also with Illinois Jacquet , Lionel Hampton and Donald Byrd . In the 1970s he was one of the bands of Louis Hayes and Clark Terry ; In 1974 he joined five other baritone saxophonists and a rhythm section to form Baritone Saxophone Retinue . He later worked with Muhal Richard Abrams and was part of the band of Abdullah Ibrahim (1983-88), then that of Clifford Jordan . In 1998 he played the album Three Baritones . In 2009, Tom Kirkpatrick , Claus Raible , Giorgos Antoniou and Bernd Reiter were among his quintet at a guest performance at the Unterfahrt jazz club .

One of his most important recordings of the 1960s was the Elvin Jones / Jimmy Garrison album Illumination ( Impulse! Records , 1963), which contains his composition Half and Half . He can also be heard on albums by Cedar Walton , Shirley Scott and Ricky Ford .

Davis should not be confused with the flutist of the same name who lives in Europe.

Super 80 (Nilva Records, 1982) with Walter Booker
Reflections (RED Distribution, 1990) with Barry Harris , Peter Washington , Ben Riley
Land of Dreams (Smalls, 2006), with Tardo Hammer , Lee Hudson , Jimmy Wormworth
For the Love of Lori (2014) with Steve Davis , Rick Germanson , David Williams, Joe Magnarelli , Neil Smith

Kenny Dorham: The Arrival Of Kenny Dorham (Jaro International Records, 1960)
Johnny Griffin: The Big Soul Band ( Riverside Records , 1960)
Sam Jones: The Soul Society (Riverside Records, 1960)
Steve Lacy: The Straight Horn of Steve Lacy ( Candid Records , 1960)
Sun Ra: Super-Sonic Jazz (1957), Jazz in Silhouette (1959), Visits Planet Earth , 1956–58 (1966), Interstellar Low Ways , 1959–60 (1966) Sound Sun Pleasure !! , 1959 (1970) - El Saturn Records
Cecil Taylor: Jumpin 'Punkins , New York City R & B - with u. a. Roswell Rudd , Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp, Buell Neidlinger (both on Candid Records, 1961)
Archie Shepp : The Way Ahead ( Impulse! Records , 1968)
Jazz Composer's Orchestra: Communications (JCOA / ECM , 1968)
Abdullah Ibrahim: Water from an Ancient Well ( Enja / Tiptoe Records, 1985)

Michel Cuscuna: Liner Notes for Archie Shepps The Way Ahead (Cuscuna gives brief biographical information on Charles Davis here).
Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette . 2nd Edition. Penguin, London 1994, ISBN 0-14-017949-6 .
Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD. 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988.

personal data
SURNAME	Davis, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Davis, Charles Henry (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 20, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH	Goodman (Michigan)
DATE OF DEATH	15th July 2016