PREVIOUS GUESTS

STEVE DAVIS

Steve Davis was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to Sydney and Jeff Davis. After about 6 months, the family moved to Syracuse where his father could re-enroll Syracuse University to resume coursework after a heavy involvement in protests for civil rights and against the Vietnam War that had taken him away from his studies. When Steve was about 2 years old, they moved again when his father got his first job as a newspaper reporter for the Elmira Star Gazette. During this time, Steve’s younger brother Pete was born. After a few years they moved back to Massachusetts, this time to Fair Haven where his father took a job with the Fall River Gazette. This is when Steve developed his sports team allegiances, the Red Sox, the Celtics, Patriots and Bruins.

By the time he started first grade, they moved to Binghamton, where his parents had lived before he was born. For Steve, it was like moving to another planet. But Binghamton became his hometown and where he would spend the rest of his childhood through elementary school, middle school, junior high and high school. This is where he also developed life long friendships, especially through music.

Growing up, Steve had strong musical influences. His father listened to a lot of blues, rock and roll and jazz records. Among his childhood memories are the jam sessions that his father led in Steve’s childhood home in Binghamton, NY. His dad’s father, called “grandsir” played trumpet as a hobby and loved Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and all the Big Band Swing music. On his mother’s side, his grandmother, was a semi-professional stride pianist who gigged in restaurants and loved playing standards like “Embraceable You" and “Honeysuckle Rose.” By the time he reached junior high, Steve’s lifelong journey with the trombone began. By 10th grade the music took over for me in a more serious way, and it conflicted with the baseball schedule. It was around that time that Steve began meaningful connections with other musician friends, many of whom have gone on to have great professional careers in Jazz music, like Tony Kadleck, Kris Jensen, Dena DeRose, Tom Dempsey, John Hollenback, and Maurice Taylor, Pete van Nostrand, and many more.

By the time the fall of 1985 arrived, Steve would take his love of music to Hartford, Connecticut to study at the Hartt School of Music under the tutelage of the great Jackie McLean. Hartford became his new home where he would raise his family and teach in the program for over 30 years.

Steve 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, Montreux, 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.

In 2019, Steve toured Europe as a member of Chick Corea's Spanish Heart Band. Chick Corea & the Spanish Heart Band went on to receive a Grammy Award for "Antidote" (2020). 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. 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).

Steve is a full professor at the Berklee College of Music Brass Dept. 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.com

Steve Davis was born in Worcester, Massachusetts to Sydney and Jeff Davis. After about 6 months, the family moved to Syracuse where his father could re-enroll Syracuse University to resume coursework after a heavy involvement in protests for civil rights and against the Vietnam War that had taken him away from his studies. When Steve was about 2 years old, they moved again when his father got his first job as a newspaper reporter for the Elmira Star Gazette. During this time, Steve’s younger brother Pete was born. After a few years they moved back to Massachusetts, this time to Fair Haven where his father took a job with the Fall River Gazette. This is when Steve developed his sports team allegiances, the Red Sox, the Celtics, Patriots and Bruins. By the time he started first grade, they moved to Binghamton, where his parents had lived before he was born. For Steve, it was like moving to another planet. But Binghamton became his hometown and where he would spend the rest of his childhood through elementary school, middle school, junior high and high school. This is where he also developed life long friendships, especially through music. Growing up, Steve had strong musical influences. His father listened to a lot of blues, rock and roll and jazz records. Among his childhood memories are the jam sessions that his father led in Steve’s childhood home in Binghamton, NY. His dad’s father, called “grandsir” played trumpet as a hobby and loved Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and all the Big Band Swing music. On his mother’s side, his grandmother, was a semi-professional stride pianist who gigged in restaurants and loved playing standards like “Embraceable You" and “Honeysuckle Rose.” By the time he reached junior high, Steve’s lifelong journey with the trombone began. By 10th grade the music took over for me in a more serious way, and it conflicted with the baseball schedule. It was around that time that Steve began meaningful connections with other musician friends, many of whom have gone on to have great professional careers in Jazz music, like Tony Kadleck, Kris Jensen, Dena DeRose, Tom Dempsey, John Hollenback, and Maurice Taylor, Pete van Nostrand, and many more. By the time the fall of 1985 arrived, Steve would take his love of music to Hartford, Connecticut to study at the Hartt School of Music under the tutelage of the great Jackie McLean. Hartford became his new home where he would raise his family and teach in the program for over 30 years. Steve 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, Montreux, 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. In 2019, Steve toured Europe as a member of Chick Corea's Spanish Heart Band. Chick Corea & the Spanish Heart Band went on to receive a Grammy Award for "Antidote" (2020). 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. 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). Steve is a full professor at the Berklee College of Music Brass Dept. 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.com