Richard Davis, whose soulful, pronounced upright bass was heard on a wide range of post-war sideman recordings—from chamber jazz and hard bop to free, funk, fusion and spiritual jazz—and on a variety of albums of his own, died on September 6. He was 93. [Photo above of Richard Davis]
Davis began his recording career in the Ahmad Jamal Trio in 1954. Throughout the 1950s, he recorded extensively with Don Shirley and Sarah Vaughan. In the 1960s and beyond, it was said that when bassist Ron Carter couldn't reach the phone, Davis answered. In all, Davis was on more than 600 jazz, rock and pop albums.
In tribute to the late bassist, I've chosen 10 favorite recordings with Davis as a sideman. Tomorrow, we'll dig into Davis's leadership recordings:
Here's Davis with Ahmad Jamal on piano and Ray Crawford on guitar playing But Not for Me in 1954...
Here's the duo of Davis and Don Shirley playing I Cover the Waterfront in 1954...
Here's Davis, Ronnell Bright (p) and Roy Haynes (d) backing Sarah Vaughan on Detour Ahead, from her album After Hours at the London House in 1958, with Henry Coker on trombone...
Here's Davis with Kenny Burrell (g) and Roy Haynes (d) on Burrell's A Night at the Village Vanguard in 1959...
Here's Davis behind Jimmy Forrest playing Soft Summer Breeze in 1962, backed by Ernie Royal (tp); Jimmy Cleveland (tb); George Barrow, Seldon Powell and Jimmy Forrest (ts); Chris Woods (p); Mundell Lowe (g); Davis (b); Ed Shaughnessy (d) and Oliver Nelson (arr,dir)...
Here's Davis on Tree Patterns from The Gary McFarland Orchestra, With Special Guest Soloist Bill Evans in 1963, with Phil Woods (cl), Spencer Sinatra (as,fl), Bill Evans (p), Gary McFarland (vib,arr,cond), Jim Hall (g), Davis (b), Ed Shaughnessy (d), Julien Barber and Allan Goldberg (viola) and Aaron Juvelier and Joseph Tekula (cello)...
Here's Davis with J.J. Johnson on Make Someone Happy from his J.J.'s Broadway album in 1963, with Johnson (tb), Hank Jones (p), Davis (b) and Walter Perkins (d)...
Here's Davis on Hat and Beard from Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch in 1964, with Freddie Hubbard (tp), Eric Dolphy (b-cl), Bobby Hutcherson (vib), Davis (b) and Tony Williams (d)...
Here's Davis on Joe Henderson's Punjab from In 'n Out in 1964, with Kenny Dorham (tp), Joe Henderson (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Richard Davis (b) and Elvin Jones (d)...
And here's Davis with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra playing Mean What You Say in 1966, with Thad Jones (flhrn); Danny Stiles, Bill Berry, Jimmy Nottingham and Richard Williams (tp); Bob Brookmeyer (v-tb); Jack Rains and Tom McIntosh (tb); Cliff Heather (b-tb); Jerome Richardson (sop,as,fl,cl,b-cl); Jerry Dodgion (as,fl,cl); Joe Farrell (ts,fl,cl); Eddie Daniels (ts,cl,b-cl); Pepper Adams (bar); Hank Jones (p); Sam Herman (g); Davis (b) and Mel Lewis (d)...
Bonus: Here's Davis bowing at the end of Bruce Springsteen's The Angel...
And from Bill Kirchner, here's an example of Davis's funky side with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis in 1968...
