Orbert C. Davis (born 1960) is an American jazz

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er and bandleader.

Biography

Davis was born in Chicago and raised in

Momence, Illinois Momence is a city and capital of Momence township, Illinois it is located in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,171 at the 2000 census, and 3,310 in 2010. It is part of the Kankakee– Bradley Metropolitan Statis ...

. He began playing trumpet around the age of ten, but was not formally instructed until Charles Danish, an elementary school teacher, found him a trumpet teacher and drove him to lessons. He graduated with a degree in trumpet performance from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, then received a master's degree in jazz pedagogy from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Davis is Associate Professor of music at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois ...

. Davis has recorded studio albums and over 3000 radio and television commercials. He is active in music education and co-founded and directs MusicAlive! (associated with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, which he also founded and directs). He is the host of the jazz radio show ''The Real Deal with Orbert Davis'' on

WDCB WDCB (90.9 FM) is a public radio station broadcasting a jazz format, serving primarily the Chicago area, and beyond through its streaming audio. The station is licensed to and owned by College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, United States, ...

.The Real Deal
/ref> He performs regularly with his group, Orbert Davis with Strings Attached, and is a member of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. Davis is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. Founded in 2004, it is the only professional orchestra in the nation solely dedicated to performing

Third Stream Third stream is a music genre that is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The term was coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller in a lecture at Brandeis University. Improvisation is generally seen as a vital component of third stream. Schu ...

music. He was featured soloist at the 1996 Chicago Jazz Festival, performing Miles Davis and Gil Evans' "Sketches of Spain". With

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

and Jon Faddis in October 1999, Davis was a featured performer for the Jazz Institute of Chicago's "Tribute to Louis Armstrong: Legacy for the Millennium" where he performed compositions from Armstrong's Hot 5 and Hot 7 recordings. This performance was repeated in August 2001 at the Chicago Jazz Festival. He has performed with

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Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...

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", ...

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 ...

, Grover Washington Jr., Ernie Watts, Stevie Wonder, and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Davis and Mark Ingram own Orbark Productions. Their credits include projects for Atlantic, Capitol, CBS, Epic, MCA, and the Warner Bros. record labels. Other projects include arrangements and on-camera performances for films such as ''A League of Their Own'' and ''The Babe''.

Discography

* ''Unfinished Memories'' (1996) * ''Priority'' (2001) * ''Blue Notes'' (2004) * ''Collective Creativity'' (2008) * ''DuSable to Obama'' (2010) * ''Home & Away'' (2012) * ''Sketches of Spain'' (2012) * ''Havana Blue'' (2016) * ''Paradise Blue'' (2017) *''The Chicago River'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Orbert 1960 births Living people Jazz musicians from Illinois People from Momence, Illinois 21st-century trumpeters American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Bienen School of Music alumni DePaul University alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians