Benjamin Lazar Davis is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, arranger, composer and record producer. He is a member of several bands including

Okkervil River Okkervil River is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff. Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river Okkervil in Saint Petersburg. They beg ...

and Cuddle Magic. Davis attended New England Conservatory of Music.

Early life

Davis's father Peter started being a musician at the age of five. Peter toured nationally and internationally with several groups, including a brief time with the Mamas and Papas. Like his son, Peter can play a variety of instruments ranging from banjo to clarinet to trombone. Davis's interest in Africa came through his father who spent three years in Malawi as a school music director. Davis has a brother and two sisters. He collaborates with his brother Tim on songs.

Bands and collaborations

In 2006 while students at The

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

Davis, Alec Spiegelman, Christopher McDonald, Kristin Slipp, Cole Kamen-Green, and David Flaherty founded Cuddle Magic in 2006. The band is known for collaborations with many artists including Fred Frith, Ran Blake, the David Wax Museum, Larkin Grimm, Mike & Ruthy (formerly of the Mammals), Phyllis Chen, Joy Kills Sorrow. Individuals from Cuddle Magic have also performed with Bridget Kearney, Railbird, Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, Baby States, Ronald Reagan, Bird Fly Yellow, Margaret Glaspy, The People's Champs, Girls Guns and Glory, Lake Street Dive, Petal Shield, Split Red, Yapp! and The Superpowers Horns. Davis went to West Africa in 2009 and 2014 to study music. "The first time I went ...., I was studying ''awa'' drumming, which is like drum ensemble music for a bunch of different instruments." Davis is referring to a music tradition involving the djembe and

dunun Dunun (; plural dunun) (also spelled dundun or doundoun) is the generic name for a family of West African drums that have developed alongside the '' djembe'' in the Mande drum ensemble. A dunun is a rope-tuned cylindrical drum with a rawhi ...

style of drums. In his first visit he heard of northern Ghanaian tradition of music called ''Bawa''. In 2014 Davis traveled to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

with

Bridget Kearney Bridget Kearney (kə́ːnɪj, car'-nee) is an American musician and songwriter. She is a founding member of the band Lake Street Dive and winner of the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the Jazz category. Kearney's solo recording work beg ...

Lake Street Dive Lake Street Dive is a multi-genre band that was formed in 2004 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. The band's founding members are Rachael Price, Mike "McDuck" Olson, Bridget Kearney, and Mike Calabrese. Keyboardist Akie Bermiss ...

and a former member of Cuddle Magic. They spent just over two weeks in the capital Accra, studying the traditional music of Northwest Ghana with master

gyil The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now fo ...

player Aaron Bebe. They subsequently co-released an EP, ''BAWA'', incorporating gyil music as source material. After leaving Ghana, Davis came down with typhoid and was very sick. When Davis and Joan Wasser (

Joan As Police Woman Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, a ...

) met in 2013, they found they both had an interest in Central African Republic Pygmy music. Davis co-wrote, recorded, co-produced and toured for the album ''Let It Be You'' (

Reveal Records __NOTOC__ Reveal Records is a British independent record label. It began as an independent record store in Derby, England. History The record store was opened by Tom Rose in 1999. The store reached its peak in 2005/2006 when it sold virtually ...

2016) with Wasser.

Discography

With Cuddle Magic

*''Cuddle Magic'' (2008) *''Picture'' (2010) *''Info Nympho'' (2012, FYO Records) *''Cuddle Magic & Phyllis Chen'' (2014), with Phyllis Chen *''Ashes/Axis'' (2017, Northern Spy Records) *''Bath'' (2020, Northern Spy Records)

With Bridget Kearney and Bbgun

* ''BAWA'' (2015, Signature Sounds)

With Joan As Police Woman

*''Let It Be You (2016, Reveal Records)

With Okkervil River

*''Away'' (2016, ATO Records) *''In the Rainbow Rain'' (2018, ATO Records)

Solo works

* ''Nothing Matters'' (2018, Independent)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Benjamin Lazar Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male pop singers American singer-songwriters American record producers American multi-instrumentalists 21st-century American composers Okkervil River members 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers American male singer-songwriters