For the last ten years, cornetist, arranger, and vocalist Mike Davis has been at the forefront of the traditional jazz movement in New York City. Davis is a bandleader and an in-demand sideman. He is now releasing his first album, The New Wonders, which is also the name of the band he fronts. The album comprises 13 tunes that pay homage to the original, traditional music style of the 1920s but with a fresh sensibility. Davis studied classical music when he was young and jazz when he went to college. But something clicked when he began listening to old 78 rpm records and felt an ineluctable pull to play traditional jazz. Davis is a craftsman as well as an artist. He listened to and absorbed a lot of old records, studying the different personal styles each player brought to the recording. Davis also sings on several tunes.
The timbre of his voice sounds much like a singer in Ted Lewis’s band. Davis says, “When I sing, I really don’t try to sound like anyone in particular. It’s just a happy coincidence that my natural timbre hews so closely to vocal stylings of that period.” Traditional jazz has mostly a light-hearted, danceable feel, and for The New Wonders, Davis mined tunes that were performed by bands that were famous in their day. As the old saw says, “Everything old is new again,” and that certainly holds true today with the renewed interest in music that was written and performed nearly 100 years ago. As evidenced on The New Wonders, supported by talented musicians Joe McDonough (trombone ) Ricky Alexander (clarinet, alto sax, vocals) Jared Engel ( banjo) Dalton Ridenhour (piano), Jay Rattman (bass sax, vocals) and Jay Lepley (drums, vocals), Davis has put a fresh face on the cornerstone of American popular music. The album is released this September 22nd on Turtle Bay Records
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Source/Image provided by Mouthpiece Music
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