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| Stanton Davis at Harlem Speaks Stanton Davis, a New Orleans-born jazz, soul, R&B and Latin trumpeter and flugelhornist is the honored guest of the bi-weekly Harlem Speaks series of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem on Thursday, May 31st. Even before graduating from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in 1973 with a degree in Composition and Performance, Davis had been steeped in the fluid sounds of jazz, blues, soul and R&B from his early life in the Crescent City. In the early '70s he led a Boston-based, highly praised electric jazz/funk fusion group, Ghetto Mysticism, which recorded the album Brighter Days and toured throughout New England and New York. Since then, Davis has performed, toured, and/or recorded with a plethora of jazz groups: The Mercer Ellington Orchestra, The Lionel Hampton Orchestra, George Russell's Living Time Orchestra, Mongo Santamaria's Orchestra, Mario Bauza & His Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy and bassist Charlie Haden's group. Davis also appeared as a soloist on David Sanborn's Night Music on NBC TV and has performed in concerts with jazz artists such as George Gruntz, Jim Pepper, Bob Stewart, David Murray, Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Gil Evans, Webster Lewis, Jaki Byard, and Max Roach. As a free-lance musician, Davis has been a key player in the orchestra pit for shows such as The Diana Ross' TV Special, and Broadway and touring shows such as Jelly's Last Jam, Black and Blue, Ain't Misbehavin', Sophisticated Ladies, Play On, Dinah Was and Bring In 'da Noise, Bring In 'da Funk as well as The Apollo Theatre's Harlem Song in New York. Davis's soulful trumpet voice also graced the soundtracks for television documentaries such as PBS' An American Dream and The Virgin Island Adventure. He also appeared in George Russell's Living Time on TV in Stockholm and on MZIZI ROOTS, on WBZ-TV in Boston. Further, Davis has been heard in concerts and festivals with such R&B and pop artists as Jon Lucien, Al Cooper, The Four Tops, Lou Rawls, David Ruffin, The Dells, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Tavares. Davis also performed in The Festival of Joy Tour for DIW Records in Tokyo, Japan and at the Berlin Jazz Festival with George Russell. As a composer, Davis's 1989 album, Manhattan Melody was selected as ”Pick Album” by Lufthansa Airlines. Davis's composition credits also include the music for Third World on WCVB-TV in Boston, the soundtrack for a multimedia show called Where's Boston? and the soundtrack for Union Station. Davis also received a Creative Artist Fellowship for composition from the Massachusetts Foundation for The Arts and Humanities and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship for Jazz Composition. Davis is included in Who's Who in Entertainment. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |