Collection: Richard Davis

Born in Chicago, Illinois on 15 April 1930, Richard Davis became one of the most recorded and versatile bassists in history, appearing on over 3,000 recordings spanning jazz, classical, rock, and pop before his death in Madison, Wisconsin on 6 September 2023, aged 93. He attended VanderCook College of Music whilst playing with both classical orchestras and jazz combos at night, working in the early 1950s with Sun Ra and spending a year with Ahmad Jamal's trio before moving to New York City in 1954 with pianist Don Shirley.

Davis toured and recorded with Sarah Vaughan from 1957 to 1960, including a European tour, before becoming one of the most in-demand bassists of the 1960s, recording over 20 groundbreaking albums in 1964 alone. His work graced canonical jazz recordings including Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch!, Andrew Hill's Point of Departure, and Tony Williams' Life Time, whilst his 1967 co-led album Heavy Sounds with Elvin Jones on Impulse! showcased his extended solo on "Summertime". Producer Lewis Merenstein enlisted Davis to musically direct Van Morrison's 1968 masterpiece Astral Weeks, where Davis and his handpicked band created music for songs they had never heard, with Merenstein later calling Davis "the soul of the record". A founding member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra from 1966 to 1972, Davis won DownBeat's Best Bassist poll for eight consecutive years from 1967 to 1974. Equally at home in classical music, he performed under conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Leopold Stokowski, and George Szell, whilst also recording with Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand. In 1977, he accepted a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he spent nearly 40 years as Professor of Bass, founded the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists in 1993, and became a 2014 NEA Jazz Master.