NEW YORK'S VERY OWN JON DAVIS TRIO GIVES US JAZZ

I was encouraged to attend a live concert to execute a Jazz Concert Review, which as a self taught musician and vocalist I found to be fascinating. I decided to attend the recommended venue entitled Smalls Jazz Club, located at 183 West 10^th Street, in New York City, to write a review about the music encountered. It was a weekend and the stage became dimly lit after the performers were introduced and the audience eagerly awaited the arrival of the sound produced by the well awaited local favorite Jon Davis Trio. This particular jazz band consisted of band leader Jon Davis (on piano), Yasushi Nakamura (on bass), and Gene Jackson (on drums). The audience cheered as the band members walked on stage and secured their respected instruments in hand. The first sound that filled the medium sized musical hall was a dry acoustical dream as th

e mellow sound amplified throughout the building.

The first and most captivating song of the evening was entitled Autumn Leaves, which was first recorded by the band in New York, on October of 2012, yet has been newly rendered by Yasushi Nakamura who recently replaced Joris Teepe on double bass. As I listened to my fellow New York native John Davis as he preformed his musical selection I could understand why he has been known by his peers as a pianist composer of superb rhythmic sense and is skilled and producing a sound that project harmonic ideas of vision. He seems to deliberately keep the audience guessing from measure to measure as he effortlessly delivers his hypnotic, moving, yet improvised piano solo lead. Davis has a sound which seems iconic in nature, which separates him from others in his genre of music, by his delivery of savory performances. I later found out that Davis migrated to Boston to study music at the New England Conservatory, were he met the likes of Madam Chaloff, Ran Blake and Jaki Byard. By the early 1980s, he relocated to San Francisco were he finally developed his own sound, then returned to New York in the 1990s to showcase his new found musical expression.

As I attentively listened to the Jon Davis Trio my ears were aroused by the dynamics of the slow to fast pace drive of the drum percussion, the calculated improvised piano lead as he lead the audience along with his melodic expression, and the accompaniment of the ever moving double bass that continued to captivated the audience’s sense of sound. Honestly, I observed no concrete arrangement, yet more so a control chaos of sound. After the introduction, the melody was played and I heard elements of a big band Swing feel as well as a less frenetic, calmer style of West Coast Jazz. This style of music later gave way to becoming the subgenre of what we know as subgenre of cool jazz. Davis infused a refreshing amount of improvised piano inversions, which balanced the overall melody of the musical selection, and gave life to the musical selection that ultimately relied on his elaborate yet melodious piano solo.

That evening Davis went on to play his other favorites such as: How Deep Is The Ocean, Candid Camera, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, You’re The Top. In closing a riveting yet moving rendition of “My Ideal,” gave way to a glorious evening. Funny enough, I envisioned myself unskillfully tap dancing across a cruise ship deck while balancing a glass of rum and coke on the rocks, which ironic for a person doesn’t drink. In other words, Jon Davis creates a musical sound that provokes a sense of purpose, awakens a curious sense of awareness, and relaxes a weary mind.