Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Wild Bill Davison: The Cornetist Who Played by Ear and Lived by Fire
William Edward Davison entered the world on January 5, 1906, in the small town of Defiance, Ohio—a fitting birthplace for a man who would spend his life defying musical conventions. From his earliest days, young Bill displayed both a deep love for music and an uncanny ability to master whatever instrument he touched.
A Musical Prodigy Finds His Voice
His journey began with the mandolin, guitar, and banjo, but Bill had his sights set higher. Ever resourceful, he joined the Boy Scouts specifically to learn the bugle. By age 12, he had graduated to the cornet—the instrument that would become his lifelong companion and voice.
What made Davison truly remarkable wasn’t technical training—his ability to read music remained limited throughout his career. Instead, he possessed something far rarer: a photographic musical ear. After hearing a song just once, he could reproduce its melody with perfect accuracy, then spontaneously weave in complex chord progressions and harmonic improvisations that left audiences spellbound.
From Obscurity to Icon
Though Davison emerged as a fiery jazz cornetist during the roaring 1920s, widespread recognition eluded him for two decades. When it finally arrived in the 1940s, it was explosive. His distinctive sound—marked by tonal distortions, heavy vibrato, and an almost urgent intensity—proved remarkably versatile. Whether playing alongside the mercurial Sidney Bechet or in more traditional settings, Davison’s cornet could adapt while losing none of its power.
His greatest musical partnership came when he joined forces with Eddie Condon. From the mid-1940s through the 1960s, this association produced some of Davison’s finest work, capturing both his hot, powerful attack and his surprisingly delicate melodic sensibility.
The Man Behind the Legend
On the bandstand, Wild Bill cut an unforgettable figure: seated in a chair with legs casually crossed, playing his horn from the side of his mouth with nonchalant mastery. But his colorful nickname didn’t come from his blazing cornet style—it was earned through his equally legendary appetite for whiskey and women, living the jazz life to its fullest and most reckless extent.
Wild Bill Davison brought his distinctive sound to audiences for over six decades before passing away on November 14, 1989, in Santa Barbara, California. He left behind a legacy that proved you don’t need to read music to speak its language fluently—you just need to listen with your whole soul.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Peter Ecklund was born on September 27, 1945 in Woodbridge, Connecticut. In 1967 he received a degree from Yale University.
He went on tour with singer Paula Lockheart and started a jazz band. Additionally, he worked with many pop and rock bands in the 1970s and 1980s. He became a substitute for the Nighthawks Orchestra led by Vince Giordano and a member of the Orphan Newboys led by Marty Grosz.
He recorded six albums as a leader and another forty-five with David Bromberg, Marty Grosz, Geoff Muldaur, Leon Redbone, Paul Butterfield, Doveman, Bob Dylan, Howard Fishman, Steve Forbert, Gloria Gaynor, Steve Goodman, Hello People, Ian & Sylvia & the Great Speckled Bird, Keith Ingham, Michael Jerling, George McCrae, Martin Mull, Alex Pangman, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Sancton, Cynthia Sayer, Johnny Shines, Paul Siebel, Siegel–Schwall Band, Eric Von Schmidt, Andrea True Connection, Terry Waldo, Loudon Wainwright III, and Mitch Woods.
Cornetist Peter Ecklund died on April 8, 2020 from Parkinson’s disease.
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Isidore Jean “John” Barbarin was born September 24, 1871 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began learning cornet at age 14, then played in various New Orleans brass bands, like the Onward Brass Band, the Excelsior Brass Band, and Papa Celestin’s Tuxedo Brass Band.
He did not make it on to record until 1945, when he recorded with Bunk Johnson; in 1946 he recorded with the Original Zenith Brass Band. He was a mainstay of the New Orleans jazz scene in the decades around the turn of the 20th century.
Cornet and alto horn player Isidore Barbarin died on June 12, 1960 in New Orleans.
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Emile Joseph Christian born April 20, 1895 in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, was the younger brother of noted cornetist and bandleader Frank Christian. He played both cornet and trombone with the Papa Jack Laine bands. He went to Chicago, Illinois in late 1917 to play trombone with the Bert Kelly Jass Band. The following year he moved to New York City, replacing Eddie Edwards in the Original Dixieland Jass Band, touring England and making his first recordings with this band.
After a brief time in the Original Memphis Five, he returned to Europe and from 1924 into the 1930s, he played bass and trombone with various jazz bands. In Berlin, Germany he recorded, in Stockholm, Sweden he recorded with Leon Abbey’s band. In Paris, Nice and Aix-les-Bain, France he played with Tom Waltham’s Ad-Libs. In 1935 he played with Benny Peyton’s Jazz Kings in Switzerland.
Christian played in both Black and White bands in Europe and India before returning to the United States after the outbreak of World War II. The 1950s saw him moving back to New Orleans, where he played with the bands of Leon Prima, Santo Pecora, and Sharkey Bonano and his own band. In 1957 he toured with the Louis Prima Band and continued playing in New Orleans into 1969.
Trombonist and cornetist Emile Christian, who wrote a number of tunes and in his later years mostly playing string bass, died on December 3, 1973 in New Orleans at the age of 78.
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Maria Faust was born on April 18, 1979 in Kuressaare,, Estonia. Growing up under the Communist regime she was classically educated, and at the conservatory there, she didn’t feel that there was room for her, musically. Yearning for something different in Tallinn, jazz and improvisational music took hold of her, but in order to develop further, she had to leave the country. With the help of the Danish Cultural Institute, she came to the Southern Danish Music Conservatory. Even in her new surroundings, she felt she did not fit into the world of jazz.
She plays and composes in non-traditional ways, and her big breakthrough came with her album, Sacrum Facere, which is Latin for human sacrifice. It was inspired by the culture of deported orthodox Russians. With collected work songs, hymns, and lullabies she merged the material with classical music and free improvisation. The album received universally positive reviews, and received two Danish Music Awards in 2014 for Jazz Composer of the Year and Jazz Crossover Release of the Year.
She has worked with John Parish and Mark Howard. She tours western Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, South America, China, and Russia. Saxophonist Maria Faust, who has recorded nine albums as a leader, continues to push the boundaries of music.
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