Francis Davis (born August 30, 1946) is an American author and journalist. He is best known as the jazz critic for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', and a contributing editor for ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. He has also worked in radio and film, and taught courses on

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and Blues at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He was a 1994 recipient of the

Pew Fellowships in the Arts A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the th ...

Life and career

Davis was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

(1964–69); he emerged in the early 1980s as the jazz critic for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. Along with his jazz writing he has tackled a wide variety of subjects, such as '' Seinfeld'' and Johnny Cash, for whom he published what many fans consider the definitive appreciation, in ''

''. Davis is characterized by his keen insights into the development of

American style This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those. This glossary lists terms used in various types of ballroom partner dances, leaving out terms of high ...

and culture, with asides in the first person who balance his theoretical certainty and a witty, human element. His articles and essays on figures such as Frank Sinatra and Anthony Davis impart a sharp picture of a writer coming of age, and aging, with the artists of his generation. Over the past few decades he has sat with Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

, and the late ''New Yorker'' film critic,

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

, after whose lengthy discussions Davis penned, ''Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael''. Along with international publication Davis has been widely recognized with awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1992, and a Pew Fellowship the following year. He is a multiple recipient of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, and was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 1989 (with Martin Williams and Dick Katz) for his liner notes to ''Jazz Piano'' for the Smithsonian Collection of Recordings. Davis won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes, for the Miles Davis album, '' Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition.''

Stanley Crouch Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American poet, music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Look ...

, a famed jazz critic who frequently writes about race relations, took Davis to task in a 2003 ''

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' column for allegedly speaking with condescension toward the predominantly black contingent of musicians who create "jazz that is based on swing and blues." Because of what Crouch alleges to be underlying racial resentment and fear, Davis "lifts up someone like, say, Dave Douglas as an antidote to too much authority from the dark side of the tracks," according to Crouch. Crouch was fired from ''Jazz Times'' after writing the column.Daniel King,
Hanging the Judge - Crouch, Jazz & the All-American Skin Game
, May 13, 2003, ''Village Voice''. Davis lives in

and is married to

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining N ...

, producer and host of the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

program ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to ...

''.

Bibliography

* ''In the Moment'' (Oxford University Press, 1986) * ''Outcats'' (Oxford University Press, 1990) * ''The History of the Blues'' (Hyperion, 1995) * ''Bebop and Nothingness'' (Schirmer, 1996) * ''Like Young'' (Da Capo, 2001) * ''Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael'' (Da Capo, 2002) * ''Jazz and Its Discontents: A Francis Davis Reader'' (Da Capo, 2004)

References

External links

Da Capo Press: Author Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Francis 1946 births Living people The Atlantic (magazine) people Jazz writers Pew Fellows in the Arts The Philadelphia Inquirer people Temple University alumni Writers from Philadelphia