Richard Davis

Richard Davis was born in Chicago on April 15, 1930. After his mother died at childbirth, he was raised by Robert and Elmora Johnson. He began singing bass in his family’s vocal trio before switching to double bass at age 15, drawn by its resonant sound. At DuSable High School, he studied under Captain Walter Dyett, a legendary Chicago educator who had also taught Nat Cole and Dinah Washington. Dyett introduced Davis to foundational bassists including Jimmy Blanton, Oscar Pettiford, and Milton Hinton. Davis graduated from VanderCook College of Music in 1952 while performing with orchestras and dance bands. In the early 1950s, he worked with Ahmad Jamal’s trio and encountered Sun Ra at a Calumet City burlesque.

Davis moved to New York City in 1954 at age 24 with pianist Don Shirley. He recorded duets with Shirley on “Tonal Expressions” (1955), which caught the attention of major classical figures. By 1957, Davis had become a first-call bassist on Manhattan’s jazz scene. He toured and recorded with Sarah Vaughan from 1957 to 1960, establishing his reputation for reliable, sophisticated playing. During the 1960s, Davis emerged as jazz’s most versatile sideman, appearing on dozens of significant recordings. His work on Eric Dolphy’s “Out to Lunch!” (1964, Blue Note) and Andrew Hill’s “Point of Departure” (1964, Blue Note) demonstrated his ability to navigate free jazz while maintaining harmonic clarity. Davis was a founding member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra from 1966 to 1972, helping redefine big band jazz at the Village Vanguard.

Davis’s crossover into popular music became definitive with Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” (1968, Warner Bros.), where he served as de facto musical director under producer Lewis Merenstein. Throughout the 1970s, he appeared on recordings by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand. He also recorded prolifically as a leader, releasing “Heavy Sounds” (1968, Impulse!) with drummer Elvin Jones, followed by “The Philosophy of the Spiritual” (1972) and “Fancy Free” (1977). The DownBeat International Critics Poll named Davis Best Bassist every year from 1967 to 1974.

In 1977, Davis joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty as Professor of Bass and Jazz History, a position he held for nearly 40 years. His teaching emphasized historical context and human dimensions alongside technical skill. He performed under Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, and Pierre Boulez, expanding the bass’s role beyond accompaniment. In 1993, Davis founded the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists, an annual conference bringing master instructors to mentor emerging players. He also founded the Madison chapter of the Institute for the Healing of Racism in 1998. In 2014, Davis received the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in jazz. He died peacefully on September 6, 2023, in Madison at age 93, leaving a legacy as a transformative performer and educator who reshaped how the bass was understood across all musical genres.