BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis (born February 20, 1951), is an American jazz pianist, composer, and student of gamelan music. Davis is best known for his operas including X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which was premiered by the New York City Opera in 1986, Amistad, which premiered with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997, and Wakonda's Dream, which premiered at Opera Omaha in 2007.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Works
2.1 Orchestral
2.2 Stage
3 Discography
3.1 As leader/co-leader
3.2 As sideman
Biography
Davis was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He taught at Yale University and Harvard University, and has played with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith. In 1981, Davis formed an octet called Episteme. He also wrote the incidental music for the Broadway version of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. He incorporates several styles including jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian, and experimental music.[1]
Davis has received acclaim as a free-jazz pianist, a co-leader or sideman with various ensembles. Such ensembles include those that featured Smith as bandleader from 1974 to 1977.
Davis is professor of music at the University of California, San Diego. His opera Wakonda's Dream is a tale of a contemporary Native American family and the history that affects them.
His latest opera, Lilith (libretto by Allan Havis)' had its world premiere at the Conrad Prebys Music Center in UCSD on December 4, 2009. The story is about Adam's first wife, set in a modern era.
Works
Orchestral
Wayang V (Piano Concerto, 1984)
Maps (Violin Concerto, 1988)
(These two works were released on Gramavision 18-8807-1, a 12" long playing record, with Davis as soloist in the piano concerto and dedicatee Shem Guibbory as soloist in the violin concerto. In each, the William McGlaughlin led the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra.)
Stage
X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1986)
Under the Double Moon (1989)
Tania (1992)
Amistad (1997)
Wakonda's Dream (2007)
Lilith (2009)
Lear on the 2nd Floor (2012)
Discography[edit]
As leader/co-leader[edit]
1978: Past Lives (VPA)
1978: Of Blues and Dreams (Sackville)
1978: Song for the Old World (India Navigation)
1979: Hidden Voices (India Navigation) - with James Newton
1980: Lady of the Mirrors (India Navigation)
1980: Under the Double Moon (MPS) - with Jay Hoggard
1981: Episteme (Gramavision)
1982: I've Known Rivers (Gramavision)
1982: Variations in Dreamtime (India Navigation)
1983: Hemispheres (Gramavision)
1984: Middle Passage (Gramavision)
1986: Undine (Gramavision)
1988: Ghost Factory (Gramavision)
1990: Trio, Vol. 2 (Gramavision)
1989: Trio, Vol. 1 (Rhino)
1993: Lost Moon Sisters/In Dora Ohrenstein's Urban Diva
1992: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Gramavision)
2001: Tania (Koch International)
2008: Amistad (New World)
As sideman[edit]
With Barry Altschul
For Stu (Soul Note, 1979)
With Marion Brown
Vista (Impulse!, 1975)
With Chico Freeman
Kings of Mali
With Jay Hoggard
Mystic Winds, Tropical Breezes (India Navigation, 1982)
With Leroy Jenkins
The Legend of Ai Glatson (Black Saint, 1978)
With George Lewis
Homage to Charles Parker (Black Saint, 1979)
With David Murray
Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
Home (Black Saint, 1982)
David Murray Quintet (DIW, 1994)
With Wadada Leo Smith
Reflectativity (Kabell, 1975)
Song of Humanity (Kabell, 1977)
Reflectativity (Tzadik, 2000)
Golden Quartet (Tzadik, 2000)
The Year of the Elephant (Pi Recordings, 2002)
Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012)
Anthony Davis (born February 20, 1951), is an American jazz pianist, composer, and student of gamelan music. Davis is best known for his operas including X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which was premiered by the New York City Opera in 1986, Amistad, which premiered with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997, and Wakonda's Dream, which premiered at Opera Omaha in 2007.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Works
2.1 Orchestral
2.2 Stage
3 Discography
3.1 As leader/co-leader
3.2 As sideman
Biography
Davis was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He taught at Yale University and Harvard University, and has played with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith. In 1981, Davis formed an octet called Episteme. He also wrote the incidental music for the Broadway version of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. He incorporates several styles including jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian, and experimental music.[1]
Davis has received acclaim as a free-jazz pianist, a co-leader or sideman with various ensembles. Such ensembles include those that featured Smith as bandleader from 1974 to 1977.
Davis is professor of music at the University of California, San Diego. His opera Wakonda's Dream is a tale of a contemporary Native American family and the history that affects them.
His latest opera, Lilith (libretto by Allan Havis)' had its world premiere at the Conrad Prebys Music Center in UCSD on December 4, 2009. The story is about Adam's first wife, set in a modern era.
Works
Orchestral
Wayang V (Piano Concerto, 1984)
Maps (Violin Concerto, 1988)
(These two works were released on Gramavision 18-8807-1, a 12" long playing record, with Davis as soloist in the piano concerto and dedicatee Shem Guibbory as soloist in the violin concerto. In each, the William McGlaughlin led the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra.)
Stage
X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1986)
Under the Double Moon (1989)
Tania (1992)
Amistad (1997)
Wakonda's Dream (2007)
Lilith (2009)
Lear on the 2nd Floor (2012)
Discography[edit]
As leader/co-leader[edit]
1978: Past Lives (VPA)
1978: Of Blues and Dreams (Sackville)
1978: Song for the Old World (India Navigation)
1979: Hidden Voices (India Navigation) - with James Newton
1980: Lady of the Mirrors (India Navigation)
1980: Under the Double Moon (MPS) - with Jay Hoggard
1981: Episteme (Gramavision)
1982: I've Known Rivers (Gramavision)
1982: Variations in Dreamtime (India Navigation)
1983: Hemispheres (Gramavision)
1984: Middle Passage (Gramavision)
1986: Undine (Gramavision)
1988: Ghost Factory (Gramavision)
1990: Trio, Vol. 2 (Gramavision)
1989: Trio, Vol. 1 (Rhino)
1993: Lost Moon Sisters/In Dora Ohrenstein's Urban Diva
1992: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Gramavision)
2001: Tania (Koch International)
2008: Amistad (New World)
As sideman[edit]
With Barry Altschul
For Stu (Soul Note, 1979)
With Marion Brown
Vista (Impulse!, 1975)
With Chico Freeman
Kings of Mali
With Jay Hoggard
Mystic Winds, Tropical Breezes (India Navigation, 1982)
With Leroy Jenkins
The Legend of Ai Glatson (Black Saint, 1978)
With George Lewis
Homage to Charles Parker (Black Saint, 1979)
With David Murray
Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
Home (Black Saint, 1982)
David Murray Quintet (DIW, 1994)
With Wadada Leo Smith
Reflectativity (Kabell, 1975)
Song of Humanity (Kabell, 1977)
Reflectativity (Tzadik, 2000)
Golden Quartet (Tzadik, 2000)
The Year of the Elephant (Pi Recordings, 2002)
Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012)
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