Become a member and get exclusive access to articles, live sessions and more!
Start Your Free Trial

This is the 1st of your 3 free articles

Become a member for unlimited website access and more.

FREE TRIAL Available!

Learn More

Already a member? Sign in to continue reading

Steve Davis: Correlations (Smoke Sessions)

A review of the latest album from the trombonist

JazzTimes may earn a small commission if you buy something using one of the retail links in our articles. JazzTimes does not accept money for any editorial recommendations. Read more about our policy here. Thanks for supporting JazzTimes.
Correlations by Steve Davis
The cover of Correlations by Steve Davis

Trombonist and educator Steve Davis was a member of the last graduating class at the University of Art Blakey, and as he said in a Blakey-related panel at this year’s Jazz Congress, he’s made it part of his mission to continue the legacy of the Jazz Messengers. He has succeeded in Hartford, Conn., where Davis studied under Jackie McLean at the Hartt School and now teaches himself. Davis’ band is made up almost entirely of former Hartt students: bassist Dezron Douglas, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Joshua Bruneau, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and drummer Jonathan Barber. Xavier Davis (no relation) he knows from David Weiss’ New Jazz Composers Octet.

Hartford was home to the 880 Club, an erstwhile Davis mainstay that hosted a weekly jam session, and Correlations displays the harmonic challenges and open ears of the best jams. On the insouciant bossa “Embarcadero,” Davis’ solo segues seamlessly to Escoffery, who then passes the baton to Bruneau as in an Olympic relay. Space is tight, but evenly distributed; solos maximize single-chorus parameters and exemplify ending with a conclusive statement.

Like the best Messengers albums, Davis includes a bit of everything within the hard bop tradition: a medium shuffle (“Song for My Love”), an up-tempo Latin groove (“Bautista’s Revenge,” featuring guest percussionist Cyro Baptista and one of several blistering, transcription-worthy solos by Escoffery), and a ballad, “Peace.” The latter showcases Davis’ warm, vocalizing tone, round like Curtis Fuller’s with an economy of expression and a legato crispness that never feels clipped. This is a welcome reminder that there are thriving jazz incubators outside New York, and that there’s life left in the hard-bop tradition McLean and Blakey shaped.

Preview, buy or download Correlations on Amazon!

Advertisement
Advertisement
Originally Published