Jesse Davis - Live at Smalls (Live) '2025

Tracks list

	Tracklist

01. I'll Close My Eyes (Live)
02. Piece Of the Apple (Live)
03. Body and Soul (Live)
04. Pray Thee / Beyond the Storm (Live)
06. What Is This (Live)

Jesse Davis is a true bebopper. His big, soulful sound has been on display on
many records over the years. He has been somewhat quiet on the recording front
of late but Live at Smalls reminds us what an incredibly melodic improviser he
is. He combines the perfect blend of blues and bebop. Although he has an
abundance of technique he is not flashy and is one of the true story tellers!

This the latest release in the live at Smalls Live Living Masters series
recorded on February 17, 2022. Here's what producer Spike Wilner says about the
performance:

It’s amazing to me how little-known Jesse Davis is on our current jazz
scene. Some do know his name, though. Musicians from my generation hold him in
the highest reverence. He’s been an expatriate for the last 20 years or
so living in Italy where he married and created a family, so he hasn’t
really been present on the New York scene for some time and only makes
occasional appearances in the USA. Jesse was born in New Orleans and first
arrived in New York City in the late 1980’s. This was just as the
“young-lion” movement was really emerging. To my mind, Jesse was
hewn like a colossus from the bedrock of the jazz earth. He has an enormous
presence and one that I imagine Charlie Parker had – a certain gravity. A
ubiquitous cigarette in his mouth, with a gravelly voice and stern demeanor,
Jesse exudes a quiet confidence. Jesse Davis was an old man even when he was a
kid. I can’t think of any other jazz musician from my generation that is
as authentic as Jesse Davis. Jesse is the real deal.

I first met Jesse in 1989 and we became close friends (a friendship that is
still dear to this day). Jesse hired me for his band and took over the Friday
and Saturday slot at Augie’s (which is now Smoke, the upper west side
jazz room). In those days Augie’s was a filthy dive in a terrible
neighborhood. I’d nervously take the train uptown for our gigs and each
weekend hang on for dear life. Jesse navigated complex bebop tunes at
white-knuckle tempos. Playing that fast was something I had to learn and was
thrown into the deep end of the pool. Sometimes the tempo was so fast that I was
like a deer in the headlights – just stunned, I couldn’t comp or
even play a note. Yet, Jesse believed in me, and we worked together there for
more than a year. I can’t think of anyone else currently playing that has
the kind of alto sound that Jesse has. He is a master of the horn, a master of
rhythm and a master of swing.

However, for all his gruffness and lightning-fast musical reflex, Jesse is
really a romantic with an enormous heart. Jesse’s love for the ballad
exposes the tenderness in his soul. Jesse never plays ugly or tastelessly. He
plays with a heart-felt conviction - 100% of his being in each note. He never
lies and never fakes. Everything Jesse plays is real. As a person, he’s
the same way. He has no bones about telling someone exactly how he feels about
them. He has no problem even getting into a fistfight if need be. Jesse is a
truthteller and it’s this quality that I believe has kept him so obscure.
He doesn’t play politics and doesn’t self-promote - he just plays
the saxophone with grace and beauty. Nobody tells him what to do and no one can
really capture him for their own purposes. Jesse makes his own way, plays his
own gigs and keeps his music pure.

It is with great personal pleasure that I produced this project for the
SmallsLIVE Foundation Living Masters Series. I once again had the opportunity to
record with the great veteran rhythm-section of Peter Washington on bass and Joe
Farnsworth on drums. My gratitude is to Cory Weeds and the Cellar Music Group
for supporting this project and putting his energy into seeing it to completion.
I hope you enjoy this music; it is the result of a lifetime of collaboration.

Jesse Davis, alto saxophone
Spike Wilner, piano
Peter Washington, bass
Joe Farnsworth, drums 



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