Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was
the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William
Strethen Davis.
Davis was born in Glasgow, Missouri but the Davis family
moved to Parsons, Kansas, while Bill was still a baby. His mother was a piano
teacher and she taught her son intermittently - he was never very interested -
until an orphaned relative came to live with the Davises and brought a Victrola
with him, along with some Fats Waller records.
In 1937 Davis won a music scholarship to Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama, after two years transferring to Wiley College in
Marshall, Texas. Davis originally played guitar and wrote arrangements for Milt
Larkin's Texas-based big band during 1939–1942, a band which included Arnett
Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, and Tom Archia on horns. After leaving the Larkin
orchestra, Davis worked in Chicago as a pianist, recording with Buster Bennett
in 1945. He also he wrote arrangements for Earl Hines and for Sarah Vaughan.
He played a crucial role as the pianist-arranger in
Jordan's Tympany Five (1945–1947) at the peak of their success. After leaving
Jordan, he returned to Chicago for a time, recording again with Buster Bennett
and working with Claude McLin. After switching from piano to organ, Davis moved
to the East Coast. In 1950, he began leading an influential trio of organ,
guitar, and drums, which recorded for OKeh Records.
Davis led the way for Milt Buckner, Bill Doggett, Jimmy
Smith and the multitude of pianists who switched allegiance. In the early days
Davis suffered criticism from churchgoers who considered the instrument had
sacred connections. "Who wants a church organist in a night club?"
But the church organ is a mere wind instrument and the Hammond could achieve
all-pervading power through the use of electricity.
Bill Davis, paradoxically, was a quiet and gentle person who completely belied his nickname "Wild Bill". But when it came to music Davis was transformed. He will best be remembered for his foundation- shattering arrangement of "April In Paris", written for and recorded by the Count Basie band of the Fifties. The arrangement alone forced the band to swing, not that it needed any coercion, and the recording was probably Basie's biggest ever hit, copied to this day by big bands across the world.
But Davis was best known for his friendship with and
employment by Duke Ellington. Davis's first records under his own name were
made in 1951 for Ellington's own record label Mercer and, uniquely for a
non-Ellington musician; he had Ellington to accompany him on piano. British
fans were dismayed when the Ellington band of 1969 arrived with Wild Bill added
to its ranks.
In Britain the organ was regarded as vulgar, and
potentially destructive of the fine-tuned sound of the world's greatest jazz
orchestra. They need not have worried. Davis's was a token role and in fact
Ellington had employed him mainly for his company, for his writing abilities
(he wrote arrangements for the band) and to be the pianist when Ellington, as
sometimes happened, failed to arrive in time for the beginning of a concert.
Since the organ was such a brute to transport, Bill Davis
owned several of them, keeping one in California, one in New York and another
for when he had to take it by road.
As the leading player of the Hammond, Davis became much
in demand in the recording studios and made fine albums with Ella Fitzgerald
(1963) and with another long-time friend, the Ellington alto saxophonist Johnny
Hodges, with whom he worked often during the Sixties. Hodges liked the freedom
of working with the Davis trio as opposed to the more demanding surroundings of
the Ellington orchestra. Davis made several albums with his friend Johnny
Hodges, leading to tours during 1969–1971 with Duke Ellington.
In the 1970s he
recorded for the Black & Blue Records label with a variety of swing
all-stars, and he also played with Lionel Hampton, appearing at festivals
through the early 1990s. Davis died in Moorestown, New Jersey, August 17, 1995.
(Info mainly from a Steve Voce article for the Independent)
1 comment:
For “Wild Bill Davis - 'Free, Frantic And Funky'' (1965) go here:
http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/9zkHkXdx/file.html
1. C Jam Blues
2. C.C. Rider
3. Hit The Road Jack
4. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Teas Me)
5. I Can't Stop Loving You
6. Sent For You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today)
7. Well, Git It
8. Azure-te` (Paris Blues)
9. Free, Frantic And Funky
10. Don't Cry Baby
11. Tippin' In
12. Make Love To Me
Post a Comment