Fri Mar 28
Two legendary jazz greats come together for a two-night engagement of hard swinging modern jazz at its finest. Having played together for over 30 years, Davis & Henderson draw from their shared experience of playing with such masters as Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Chick Corea, Jackie McLean, and Herbie Hancock. Together they were featured in Benny Golson’s New Jazztet, and with renowned jazz pianists Larry Willis and Harold Mabern. Davis & Henderson recently toured Spain together, and each can be heard on their most recent recordings for SMOKE Sessions, “We See” and ‘Witness to History” respectively.
Steve Davis is widely regarded as one of today's leading voices on the trombone. Davis first gained widespread recognition with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (‘90) composing the title track of Blakey’s last album, One For All (A&M). In the years since, Steve has worked with a broad range of jazz luminaries such as Jackie McLean, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton’s World of Trombones, Cecil Payne, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, Harold Mabern, Larry Willis, Roy Hargrove, Willie Jones III, Joe Farnsworth, Eric Alexander & One For All. Davis has also been a steady member of big bands led by Jimmy Heath, Ron Carter, Christian McBride and John Lee & The Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars. Steve has appeared on The Jimmy Fallon Show with Stevie Wonder and at The White House Tribute to Ray Charles (PBS). Davis plays on nearly 200 recordings, including 20 as a leader. His new 2024 release "We See" (Smoke Sessions) features Davis in a live setting along with a stellar lineup including Eddie Henderson, Ralph Moore, Renee Rosnes, Essiet Essiet and Lewis Nash. A long-time educator, Steve has guided generations of emerging musicians including a 31 year tenure at The Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute, University of Hartford, CT where he was honored as '23 Alumni Of The Year. In Fall '22, Davis joined the Berklee College of Music Brass Dept. as Full Professor. Other prestigious educational affiliations have included positions at the San Francisco Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Juilliard School, UMASS Jazz In July, Jamey Aebersold, Skidmore, Litchfield & Stanford University Summer Jazz Workshops. www.stevedavismusic.com
Eddie Henderson is one of today's top and most original jazz trumpet players. Henderson was born in New York City October 26, 1940. His father sang with the Charioteers, and his mother danced as one of the Brown twins at the Cotton club. Louis Armstrong gave Eddie his first few trumpet lessons at the age of nine. Eddie moved with his family to San Francisco when he was 14 years old. He studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1954 to '56. Around 1956, Miles Davis was a guest at Eddie Henderson's home during a black Hawk Jazz Club gig and was impressed with Eddie's ability to perform his famous "Sketches of Spain" without a fluff but encouraged Henderson to seek his own originality. Following Air Force service from 1958 to '61, Eddie became the first African American to compete for the National figure skating Championship, winning the pacific and Midwestern titles. The year 1961 was the beginning of Eddie pursuing dual careers-medicine and music. After receiving a bachelor of science in Zoology at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964,he got his M.D. at Howard university Medical School in 1968. Henderson first got worldwide recognition for his jazz- trumpet playing from the popular recordings he made with Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi group during the early '70s. Other jazz performers Eddie has played with include Pharoah Sanders, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Benny Golson, Max Roach, Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon, Roy Haynes, and Joe Henderson.