Steve Davis Quintet in Concert and Conversation

Steve Davis is widely regarded as one of today’s leading voices on the trombone. After graduating from The Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz (’89), Davis first gained widespread recognition in 1990 upon joining as the last to join the Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Steve’s first record dates would be Blakey’s last, including One For All (A&M), the title track penned by Davis. Over the years since, Davis has worked with a broad range of jazz luminaries such as his first mentor Jackie McLean, Chick Corea, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Cecil Payne, Harold Mabern, Larry Willis, Freddie Hubbard & The New Jazz Composers Octet, Slide Hampton’s World of Trombones, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, Hank Jones, Rene McLean, Nat Reeves, Avishai Cohen, Roy Hargrove & Willie Jones III. Raised in Binghamton, New York, Steve has performed at major venues around the world including appearances at the North Sea, Montreal, Vienne, Montreaux, Newport, JVC, Detroit, Chicago & Playboy Jazz Festivals, The Jimmy Fallon Show with Stevie Wonder and at The White House Tribute to Ray Charles (PBS). Davis appears on over 150 recordings, including 20 as a leader. His new 2024 release “We See” (Smoke Sessions) features Davis in a live setting along with a stellar lineup including Eddie Henderson, Ralph Moore, Renee Rosnes, Essiet Essiet and Lewis Nash.  Davis’ 2022 release “Bluesthetic” (Smoke Sessions) includes an all-star band featuring Steve Nelson, Peter Bernstein, Geoff Keezer, Christian McBride & Willie Jones III playing a program of Steve’s originals. “Bluesthetic” has garnered rave reviews and spent months atop the JazzWeek Radio Charts. Other notable releases include Say When: Celebrating J.J. Johnson, Think Ahead, Correlations (Smoke Sessions), For Real and Gettin’ It Done (Positone). During 2019, Steve appeared on Chick Corea’s Grammy Winning Spanish Heart Band CD, “Antidote” and toured Europe with the group. For years, Davis worked regularly with the collectively-led sextet One For All (feat. Eric Alexander, the late Jim Rotondi, David Hazeltine, John Webber & Joe Farnsworth) recording nearly 20 albums.  Steve also maintains a long-running association with bassist Nat Reeves, as well as playing with John Lee’s Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Ron Carter and Christian McBride big bands and The Queens Jazz Orchestra. Steve’s original composition, “Optimism” appears on the McBride Big Band’s Grammy Award winning release Bringin’ It (2018). Davis performs and has recently recorded with his wife, vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis on her debut “Where Is Love” (WJ3 Feb ’24) which also features his son, guitarist Tony Davis. Steve & Abena appear together on Natalie Merchant’s 2023 release, “Keep Your Courage” (Nonesuch).  In addition to playing regularly in NYC, Steve maintains an active presence on the vibrant local CT jazz scene.  A long-time educator, Steve has guided a broad range of emerging musicians at the Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Division, University of Hartford, CT where he was recently honored for over 30 years of service and as ’23 Alumni Of The Year. In Fall ’22, Prof Davis left Hartt to join the Berklee College of Music Brass Dept. as Full Professor. Other prestigious educational affiliations have included the San Francisco Conservatory’s RJAM faculty, Jamey Aebersold’s Summer Jazz Workshops, Skidmore Jazz Workshop, Jazz in July at UMASS Amherst, Stanford University Jazz Workshop. www.stevedavismusic.co