Happy Music Monday! Dennis Davis passed away just about a month ago, but we've had a little backlog of death, so Scott's only getting to him now. Nothing personal, Dennis. It's just been a crazy year.
Roy Ayers - Rhythms Of Your Mind
When I paid a bit too much for a first edition of this record a few years ago, I was very surprised to read the liner notes and discover Dennis Davis was the drummer on the record and the arranger of this song. But it really shouldn't have surprised me at all. As talented as he was, he should have been everywhere.
More RIP's to come.
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin)
If Dennis Davis had only ever worked with Roy Ayers, he still would have been pretty well respected. But that wasn't all he did. Davis was comfy playing with almost anyone of high caliber, and he could handle soul as well as jazz and funk and rock. Case in point:
Davis got into this recording session via the major reason I know who he is. Can you guess? Answer coming up at the end of the post. But there aren't a lot of drummers who moved easily from soul to rock and back again. Possibly because Dennis Davis was doing the job just fine.
Now Dennis Davis IS listed as a drummer on this Eddie Murphy record, but he's not the only drummer. That's why I picked this song instead of the more popular Party All The Time. It's very possible that Dennis Davis is playing on both (he's clearly not the drummer in the video but that doesn't prove anything) but I just can't be sure! Either way, I'm told he's on THIS song for sure. Take it as proof that Davis wasn't scared to take some chances.
And thus we answer the question about how I discovered Dennis Davis. His work with Brian Eno and his chalkboard of chords might have driven Davis mad, but clearly some good came from it, because Davis was there for some of Bowie's best albums and stayed with the band into the 21st Century, even teaching one of Bowie's later drummers how to play! God speed in rock 'n roll heaven, Mr. Davis. May you never have to deal with those damn Oblique Strategies again.
Let us just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use. See you next week.