Kenny Davis is a native of
Chicago, Illinois. Kenny's career began with listening to such great
R&B artists such as: Earth Wind & Fire, Brothers Johnson and The
Temptations, just to name a few. First being self taught, he then
studied music theory with David Holder Sr. He then went on to
Northeastern Illinois University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Music Education.
Upon entering Northeastern
University, he discovered jazz music and he quickly became part of the
Chicago jazz scene, playing with Von Freedman, Ari Brown and Fred
Anderson. Later, he went on to study classical bass with Warren Benfield
of the Chicago Symphony, and had a number of lessons with Jeffrey
Bradetich. Some of his jazz influences are Ray Brown, Paul Chambers and
Ron Carter. In addition, he also was influenced by the following
electric bass musicians: Jaco Pastorius and Verdine White.
Davis was the bassist of "The Tonight Show" Band from September, 1999 through March, 2002. He
moved to New York in 1986, where he played with Out of the Blue (OTB),
and then quickly adapted to the New York scene. While there, he also
made a living by doing sessions and jingles. In New York, he began
appearing with such artists as: Freddie Hubbard, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey
Lincoln, Diane Reeves and Art Farmer, while studying music with Ron
Carter.
One of the highlights of his
career was being a music arranger for a song on the Grammy Award winning
CD by artist Cassandra Wilson, "Blue Light Till Dawn". Throughout the
90's, Davis toured with such notable jazz artists as Herbie Hancock,
Dianne Reeves and Art Farmer.
In June, 2002, Kenny Davis
moved back to New York and he is again touring, recording and teaching.
In May 2006 he recieved his Masters in Music (MA) from Rutgers
University.
Kenny was the bass teacher at
the University of Connecticut (UCONN) from 2003 thru 2009. Also, in May
2006 Kenny received his Master of Music (MA) from Rutgers University,
where he now teaches.
