Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Steve Davis was born March 14, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The youngest of 10 children, he became interested in music as a young teenager and was inspired by his older brother who also played the bass. He was part of a group of young Philadelphia jazz musicians that included saxophonists Benny Golson and John Coltrane. At age 16 he began playing with local big bands and dropped out of high school a year later to pursue a music career.

During the 1940s and 1950s he worked frequently playing with Philly Joe Jones and Jimmy Oliver among others. In 1960, he was briefly a part of the John Coltrane Quartet, before being replaced temporarily by Reggie Workman and permanently by Jimmy Garrison. He was the double bassist on the recordings of  My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays The Blues and Coltrane’s Sound.

He also recorded as a sideman with Chuck and Gap Mangione on Hey Baby! In 1961 and with quartet fellow and brother-in-law McCoy Tyner on the 1963 album Nights of Ballads & Blues. Davis went on to play on several of James Moody’s groups. He worked throughout the 1960s as a freelancer in New York and as a side man appearing on albums by Kenny Dorham and others.

Moving to Rochester, New York in 1970 Steve played bass with the Gap Mangione Trio, Spider Martin Group and other local bands. He was a mentor to younger jazz musicians in Rochester and enjoyed passing on his knowledge. 1980 saw him beginning to suffer from emphysema and returned to Philadelphia.

Bassist Steve Davis, who was also known by his Muslim name Luquman Abdul Syeed, died on August 21, 1987 at the age of 58.

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