Lowell Davidson

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Lowell Davidson (* 1941 in Boston , † 1990 ) was an American jazz - pianist and composer and bassist , organist and percussionist of free jazz .

Live and act

Lowell Davidson took piano lessons as a child, studied biochemistry at Harvard University, and had a trio while studying. He then moved to New York City and worked there with various trio and quartet formations, including a with Michael Mantler , Kent Carter , Paul Motian , Billy Elgart and David Izenzon . Davidson performed at the Cellar Café in 1964 in a series of concerts organized by Bill Dixon ; Bernard Stollman , head of the avant-garde label ESP-Disk, was among the guests .

Davidson also worked with Ornette Coleman , who eventually organized a recording session under Davidson's direction for ESP-Disk. On July 27, 1965, the album Lowell Davidson Trio (ESP 1012) was created with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Milford Graves . Davidson then worked in other trio line-ups with Mario Pavone and Laurence Cook as well as in a trio with Ornette Coleman as violinist and trumpeter, and George Russell; also in a quartet formation, the New York Art Quartet , with Roswell Rudd , John Tchicai , bassist Lenir Worrell and Davidson as drummers; However, no further recordings were made.

Davidson returned to Boston and only worked sporadically as a musician, also played the organ and an aluminum double bass. He sold his music privately in the form of audio cassettes and worked occasionally with younger musicians such as guitarist Joe Morris , bassist Jon Voigt and drummer Laurence Cook. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 49 .

Appreciation

The critic Raul d'Gama Rosa describes Lowell Davidson as “one of the most perfect artists. As a pianist, Lowell Davidson has a great virtuosity and plays with such harmonious refinement that he can be compared with greats like Thelonious Monk , Herbie Nichols and Don Pullen ”. The critic particularly emphasizes the importance of Davidson's compositions such as "L", "Stately 1", "Dunce", "Ad Hoc" and "Strong Tears".
Michael G. Nastos in Allmusic sees in Lowell Davdison's "free flowing, sensitive playing" on the ESP album parallels to the style of Cecil Taylor , Mal Waldron or Paul Bley ,

The authors Richard Cook and Brian Morton call the ESP disc album Davidson's only, but also fascinating work on record; he is playing “with a spider-like delicacy; his right hand works incessantly in constant variation over the same octaves, while the left hand creates the most indistinct counterpoints in the bass range. Davidson's play is not comparable to Taylor's grandiosity, but rather falls back on Herbie Nichols' peculiar eclecticism ”.

Joe Morris interpreted Lowell Davidson's compositions on his album Antennae (1997); they are originally from The Green Book , which Davidson intended as a guide to improvisation. The 1965 Lowell Davidson Trio was included on The Wire's 100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening) .

Web links

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Remarks

  1. ^ D'Gama Roosa in All about Jazz
  2. ↑ Cook / Morton, 2nd edition, p. 320.
personal data
SURNAME Davidson, Lowell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and composer as well as bassist, organist and percussionist of free jazz
DATE OF BIRTH 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston
DATE OF DEATH 1990