College Professor Teaches Music, Performs Weekly

Accomplished jazz musician tours with the band, Jazzismo

Story by Eric Rushia

"Students have helped me discover new ways of approaching improvisation," Davies says. "I love to perform with my students. It can be more exciting when the musicians can feed off of each other's ideas." He also says, "While I try to be careful not to take the spotlight away from the students, I think the overall performance can be more exhilarating when I play with them instead of just standing up front waving my arms."

As a well-known jazz composer, Davies is the director of the PSUC contemporary combo as well as the student jazz ensemble. His teaching philosophies resonate with students, who remain eager to display their talents in a live studio session similar to the way Davies approaches his own techniques. Davies' style is one of simplification that produces a complicated melody with just a few deep breaths.

"Jazz is a very difficult music to master... the old saying is that you don't choose jazz - it chooses you," Davies says. "However, it is very gratifying if you can make it through the gauntlet and it's a good idea to have a fallback position."

Davies first became attracted to jazz during his time at middle school when he heard the sounds of bebop, funk, and Latin-style jazz. Over the years, Davies has collaborated with notable jazz musicians like Wayne Gorbea, who leads the internationally known salsa band, Salasa Picante, and the late great saxophonist Sam Furnace, who plays on Davies first album Salsa Strut. "I am lucky enough to have met the best jazz musicians in Vermont and they all like my songs a lot so they are always willing to get together whenever possible," Davies says. "Sam was a tremendous sax player who left before his time, and Wayne is always a joy to work with."

"It's a play on the Spanish suffix 'ismo' combined with jazz. The suffix basically means the essence of something."

His newest band, Jazzismo, has gone through many reincarnations with Davies being a constant fixture from the beginning. The current lineup is originally from New York City, consisting mostly of Vermont-based musicians who have been playing together throughout New York and Vermont for more than seven years. The name, Jazzismo, is a play off the original Cuban groups, like Cubanism or Afro-Cubanismo, who perfected the Latin-style jazz that Davies imitates. "It's a play on the Spanish suffix 'ismo' combined with jazz," Davies says. "The suffix basically means the essence of something."

As part of a GIECO advertising campaign some of Davies' very own compositions can be heard blasting through the web site's music player. The song is titled "Rumba Nortina." After a little searching, you can read a short excerpt about Davies' latest album and past history by clicking on the magazines located on the table. The website is available at www.cavemanscrib.com. His second album titled "Siempre Salsa," is full of Davies' original Latin jazz compositions that have gained attention from jazz critics across the east coast.

The difference between producing a studio album and performing live at a concert on stage or even in a bar is one that at times can be quite striking, Davies said. While he manages to create a sound entirely his own within the studio, his intensity for live improvisation is still noticeable in comparison to the studio versions.

"In the studio you have a chance to try different things and to do some overdubbing here and there," Davies says. "However, I take a live approach, for the most part, even in the studio."

Having been influenced by modern blues legends Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and J.J. Johnson, Davies credits his dedication to jazz and composition techniques to them, along with spending hours listening to salsa legends Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente. After living, working and performing at local clubs around the New York City area, Davies soon packed up his belongings and headed toward the Plattsburgh/Burlington area searching for talented musicians to join his jazz band. Luckily for him he had made some vital contacts while performing in New York City, which led him to forming his own band from the pool of jazz musicians in the Adirondack region.

"It is a robust scene especially in the Burlington area," Davies says. "Although I lived in New York City for over 20 years, I think there is a lot going on here considering the size of the population. Burlington is like a small northeastern Austin, Texas, type of scene."

Quantifying, qualifying, or even defending Davies' ability to perform a variety of jazz styles, ranging from Caribbean to funk to Latin-style jazz, is probably a futile task at this point. He is certainly not interested in it; in fact he is hardly interested in anything that has already happened. Davies continues to play every chance he gets as he travels and studies the roots of jazz.

"It takes numerous years of training and especially practicing to become proficient," Davies says. "To become successful you have to develop an obsession for perfection that is impossible to achieve. It's a life long pursuit... add to this the fact that it is very hard make a living playing jazz you need to be very motivated to be successful."

What jazz style to you listen to most?
Who is your favorite jazz musician?

Jazzismo:

Rick Davies - Trombone
Sam Furnace - Alto Sax
Arturo O'Farrill - Pianist
Harvie Swartz - Bassist
Vince Cherico - Drummer
Juan Rodriguez - Congas

Albums:

Siempre Salsa


Salsa Strut