Art Davis


Art Davis was a double-bassist, known for his work with Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner and Max Roach.

Biography

Davis was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he began studying the piano at the age of five, switched to tuba, and finally to bass while attending high school. He studied at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music but graduated from Hunter College.
As a New York session musician, he recorded with many jazz and pop musicians and also in symphony orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and John Coltrane among other jazz musicians. Art Davis was a professor at Orange Coast College.
Davis is also known for starting a legal case that led to blind auditions for orchestras.
Davis earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from New York University in 1982. He moved in 1986 to southern California, where he balanced his teaching and practicing of psychology with jazz performances.
Davis died on July 29, 2007 following a heart attack. He was survived by two sons and a daughter.

Discography

As leader

With Joe Albany
With Gene Ammons
With Count Basie
With Art Blakey
With John Coltrane
With Buddy Emmons
With Curtis Fuller
With Dizzy Gillespie
With Bunky Green
With Al Grey
With Eddie Harris
With Freddie Hubbard
With Elvin Jones
With Etta Jones
With Quincy Jones
With Clifford Jordan
With Roland Kirk
With Abbey Lincoln
With Booker Little
With Lee Morgan
With Tisziji Munoz
With Joe Newman
With Dizzy Reece
With Max Roach
With Hilton Ruiz
With Sal Salvador
With Pharoah Sanders
With Lalo Schifrin
With Shirley Scott
With Jack Teagarden
With Clark Terry
With McCoy Tyner
With Leo Wright
With Roberto Magris