Arthur David Davis (December 6, 1934 – July 29, 2007) was a

double-bassist 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 ...

, known for his work with

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

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 improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (from 1960 to 1965) and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA ...

and

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

Biography

Davis was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, United States, where he began studying the piano at the age of five, switched to tuba, and finally to bass while attending high school. He studied at

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

and

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

but graduated from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. As a New York

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, he recorded with many jazz and pop musicians and also in

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

s such as the New York Philharmonic and

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

. He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and John Coltrane among other jazz musicians. Art Davis was a professor at Orange Coast College. Davis is also known for starting a legal case that led to

blind audition In a blind audition the identity of the performer is concealed from the judges so as to prevent bias. The performance takes place behind a curtain so that the judges cannot see the performer. Blind auditions have become standard in symphony orchestr ...

s for orchestras. Davis earned a Ph.D. in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1982. He moved in 1986 to southern California, where he balanced his teaching and practicing of psychology with jazz performances. Davis died on July 29, 2007, following a heart attack. He was survived by two sons and a daughter.

Discography

As leader

* ''Reemergence'' ( Interplay, 1980) - with

Hilton Ruiz Hilton Ruiz (May 29, 1952 – June 6, 2006) was an American jazz pianist in the Afro-Cuban jazz mold, but was also a talented bebop player. He was of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Born in New York City, Ruiz began playing piano at the age of f ...

, Greg Bandy * ''Life'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1985) - with

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economic ...

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

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

* ''A Time Remembered'' (Jazz Planet, 1995) - with

Ravi Coltrane Ravi Coltrane (born August 6, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi. Biography Ravi Coltrane is the son of sa ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Marvin Smith Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical ...

As sideman

With

Joe Albany Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings. Life and career Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, ...

* ''

Bird Lives! ''Bird Lives!'' is an album by trumpeter Red Rodney featuring performances of tunes by, or associated with, Charlie Parker which was recorded in 1973 and released on the Muse label.

'' (Interplay, 1979) With

Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and ...

* ''

Up Tight! ''Uptight'' (also known as ''Up Tight!'') is a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film '' The Informer'', based on the book of the same name by Liam O'Flaherty, but the s ...

'' (

Prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...

, 1961) * '' Boss Soul!'' (Prestige, 1961) With

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

* ''

Back with Basie ''Back with Basie'' (subtitled ''More Hit Performances of the '60s'') is an album released by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie featuring tracks recorded in 1962 (with one from 1960) and originally released on the Roulette label.Kitora, ...

'' (

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

, 1962) With

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 ...

* '' A Jazz Message'' (

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

, 1963) With

* ''

Africa/Brass ''Africa/Brass'' is the eighth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released on September 1, 1961 on Impulse! Records. The sixth release for the fledgling label and Coltrane's first for Impulse!, it features Coltrane's working quartet au ...

'' (Impulse!, 1961) * ''

Olé Coltrane ''Olé Coltrane'' is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane released in November 1961 on Atlantic Records. The album was recorded at A&R Studios in New York, and was the last of Coltrane's Atlantic albums to be made under his own supervision. Ba ...

'' (Impulse!, 1961) * '' Ascension'' (Impulse!, 1965) * ''

The John Coltrane Quartet Plays '' The John Coltrane Quartet Plays'' (full title ''The John Coltrane Quartet Plays Chim Chim Cheree, Song of Praise, Nature Boy, Brazilia'') is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, recorded in February and May 1965, shortly after the release of ...

'' (Impulse!, 1965) With

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known by ...

* ''

Steel Guitar Jazz ''Steel Guitar Jazz'' is a 1963 studio album by steel guitarist Buddy Emmons. It was reissued in 2003 by Verve Records. Reception Ken Dryden reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that "Buddy Emmons wasn't the first musician to be featured pl ...

'' (

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, 1964) With

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...

* '' Cabin in the Sky'' (Impulse!, 1962) With

* ''

Gillespiana ''Gillespiana'' is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie featuring compositions by Lalo Schifrin recorded in 1960 and released on the Verve label.

'' (

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

, 1960) * '' Carnegie Hall Concert'' (Verve, 1961) With

Bunky Green Vernice "Bunky" Green (born April 23, 1935) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator. Biography Green was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played the alto saxophone, mainly at a local club called "The Brass Rail". Green's fir ...

*'' Healing the Pain'' (Delos, 1990) With

Al Grey Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called ''Plunger Techniques''. Care ...

*'' The Al Grey - Billy Mitchell Sextet'' (Argo, 1961) with

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

With

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

* ''

Bossa Nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

'' (

Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

, 1962) With

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

* '' The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard'' (Impulse!, 1960) * ''

Ready for Freddie ''Ready for Freddie'' is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, released on the Blue Note label in 1962 as BLP 4085 and BST 84085. In 2003, it was remastered and issued on CD with the addition of two alternate takes. It contains performances by H ...

'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

, 1961) With

Hasaan Ibn Ali Hasaan Ibn Ali (born William Henry Langford, Jr.; May 6, 1931 – 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Ibn Ali was strongly influenced by Elmo Hope, and his playing was rapid and intense, retaining a sense of rhythm even when his st ...

*'' Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album'' (

Omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

, 1965; released 2021) With

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

* ''

Elvin! ''Elvin!'' is a jazz album by drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1961 and 1962 and released on the Riverside label.

'' (

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, 1961–62) * '' And Then Again'' (Atlantic, 1965) With

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene A ...

* '' Lonely and Blue'' (Prestige, 1962) With

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

* '' Golden Boy'' (Mercury, 1964) With

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

* '' A Story Tale'' ( Jazzland, 1961) with

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, Paul Qu ...

With

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

* ''

We Free Kings ''We Free Kings'' is a studio album by the jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roland Kirk, released on Mercury Records in January 1962. His group works through a set of bluesy post-bop numbers, including a highly regarded version of ...

'' (1961) With

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

* '' Straight Ahead'' ( Candid, 1961) With

Booker Little Booker Little Jr. (April 2, 1938 – October 5, 1961)
– accessed June 2010 was an American

* '' Out Front'' (Candid, 1961) With Roberto Magris * '' Kansas City Outbound'' (JMood, 2008) With

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

* '' Expoobident'' (1960) With Tisziji Munoz * ''Visiting This Planet'' (Anami Music, 1980's) * ''Hearing Voices'' (Anami Music, 1980's) With Joe Newman * '' Joe Newman Quintet at Count Basie's'' (Mercury, 1961) With

Dizzy Reece Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece (born 5 January 1931) is a Jamaican-born hard bop jazz trumpeter. Reece is among a group of jazz musicians born in Jamaica which includes Bertie King, Joe Harriott, Roland Alphonso, Wilton Gaynair, Sonny Bradshaw, ...

* ''

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

'' (1978) With

* '' Max Roach + 4 at Newport'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

, 1958) * '' Deeds, Not Words'' (Riverside, 1958) * ''

Award-Winning Drummer ''Award-Winning Drummer'' (also released as ''Max Roach'') is an album by American jazz drummer Max Roach featuring a session recorded in 1958 and released on the Time label.

'' (

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

, 1958) * '' The Many Sides of Max'' (Mercury, 1959) * '' Percussion Bitter Sweet'' (Impulse!, 1961) * '' It's Time'' (Impulse!, 1962) * '' The Max Roach Trio featuring the Legendary Hasaan'' (Atlantic, 1964) With

* ''The People's Music – Live at Jazz Unité, vol 1'' (1981) * ''Green Street – Live at Jazz Unité, vol 2'' (1981) With

Sal Salvador Sal Salvador (November 21, 1925 – September 22, 1999) was an American bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator. He was born in Monson, Massachusetts, United States, and began his professional career in New York City. He eventually m ...

* '' Juicy Lucy'' (Bee Hive, 1978) With

* '' Rejoice'' (

Theresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...

, 1981) With

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...

* ''

Lalo = Brilliance ''Lalo = Brilliance'' (subtitled ''The Piano of Lalo Schifrin'') is an album by Argentine composer, pianist and conductor Lalo Schifrin recorded in 1962 and released on the Roulette label.Payne, DLalo Schifrin discographyaccessed March 6, 2012

'' (Roulette, 1962) With

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in Phi ...

* ''

For Members Only ''For Members Only'' is an album by American jazz organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1963 for the Impulse! label.Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...

*''

Think Well of Me ''Think Well of Me'' is a 1962 studio album by trombonist/vocalist Jack Teagarden, performing songs by Willard Robison, accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by Bob Brookmeyer or Russ Case, that was released by the Verve Records, Ver ...

'' (Verve, 1962) With

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

* '' Clark Terry Plays the Jazz Version of All American'' (Moodsville, 1962) With

* ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltr ...

'' (1962) With

Leo Wright Leo Wright (December 14, 1933 in Wichita Falls, Texas – January 4, 1991 in Vienna) was an American jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and clarinet. He played with Charles Mingus, Booker Ervin, John Hardee, Kenny Burrell, Johnny Co ...

* ''

Blues Shout ''Blues Shout'' is an album by saxophonist Leo Wright featuring performances recorded in 1960 for the Atlantic label.Art Davis Discography at Jazz Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Art 1934 births 2007 deaths American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz composers American male jazz composers Hard bop double-bassists Musicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Post-bop double-bassists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people