The Jazz Life

Musician Rick Davies brings his love of jazz to his students

Story and photos by Jen Dunkerley

Eyes shut tight, body focused. Beads of sweat run down a furrowed brow. Strong fingers clenched around golden tubes. And that sound—pitches of highs and lows fill the air; they are the pitches that run up and down eager listeners' spines. It's the sound they come to see. It's jazz.

Rick Davies has been in love with jazz all his life. To him, jazz is something you have to feel to be able to be a part of; it is something that he has based his life around. A part of the band Jazzismo, an Afro-Carribean jazz group he started with friends in Vermont in 2000, Davies has pumped out two CDs and is currently writing more tracks for future works.

Davies first became interested in jazz when he was about twelve. His father was a singer and his half-brother was an avid listener to jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan, which exposed Davies to the music world. A native of Alberqerque, New Mexico, he was used to, and comfortable with, the Hispanic culture. "It was something that I was always around. In school, the kids were about 85 percent Hispanic, and it was a culture I loved to be around" Davies says. This lead Davies into his love of salsa, which meshed with his love of jazz, creating the Afro-Carribean/Latin sound that Davies is so well known for. He left New Mexico when he was twenty and started playing in bands. At first he started playing with pop groups as well as R&B but then went back into Latin jazz. Davies says that whatever he writes now just comes out as Afro-Cuban; he can't help it."By this point, I found my own style. Stick with what will get you gigs, I guess," Davies jokes.

Originally, Davies started out working in New York City for twenty-five years as a full time musician. He played at various jazz clubs around that city and has been featured with some very familiar names in music, including Mya, Blondie, and Michael Jackson. Davies says that he's been featured in close to 100 CDs throughout his twenty-five years as a musician in the city. Sticking with his Afro-Carribean style, Davies played in many jazz clubs and different gigs around NYC but because of the long-term thrill of the city life, Davies decided he needed a change.

"I felt like I needed some country air; when I first heard of Plattsburgh, I had no idea where it was. Switching from Brooklyn to Plattsburgh is a hell of a change, but it's something I do not regret."

He decided to go back to school. Receiving his Ph.D. at New York U, Davies moved to Plattsburgh in 2000. Besides wailing on the trombone as he does so well, Davies also works in the music department at Plattsburgh State University in Plattsburgh, NY. Here as the associate professor of music, Davies teaches jazz history, brass, music technology and theory and composition. "I felt like I needed some country air; when I first heard of Plattsburgh, I had no idea where it was. Switching from Brooklyn to Plattsburgh is a hell of a change, but it's something I do not regret," Davies says.

Davies says he is at the age now where the hype of NYC is not as exciting anymore. He has the "been there, done that" attitude toward the city now, but is still glad that he has so many connections. The fact that Plattsburgh is a laid back type of place with less stress is something that Davies is very fond of. He says you can still get the good stuff without pulling your hair out. "I'm just glad Plattsburgh is so centrally located. If it were somewhere in the middle of nowhere, I don't think I would have lasted this long." Davies says, laughing to himself.

He says SUNY Plattsburgh is a great school and that he loves his job here. It's a new opportunity for him to be able to spread his wings and pass on his love of jazz with his students.

Davies recently returned to the states from a trip to Colombia where he found himself to be somewhat of a celebrity. He says he has always been a part of something big that has gotten a lot of attention, but not where he himself has been targeted as an artist. "It's so different because there I had paparazzi in my face taking pictures, it was pretty wild." On stage, he is focused, but you can tell he is having fun by doing something he loves. Through the sounds heard from his glistening gold trombone, Davies pours his heart and soul into every note that comes out, which is why his fans are so fond of what he does.

"When we played in Amsterdam, we had fans come up to us saying that they drove 400, 500 miles just to see us play. That's something pretty amazing."

Davies and his band have traveled all over the world in order to perform. He says that the feedback he gets from his music in Europe is huge, especially from dancers. From Colombia to Sydney, Holland to Trinidad and all along the West coast, the Afro-Cuban beat that Davies and his band produce is widely known. "When we played in Amsterdam, we had fans come up to us saying that they drove 400, 500 miles just to see us play. That's something pretty amazing."

Now a music professor at Plattsburgh State, Davies wants to be able to pass on that feeling to his students. One of Davies accomplishments that he is most proud of is the school's contemporary combo and jazz ensemble. A series of musically talented Plattsburgh State students make up this hot group from which many different sounds can be heard. With a jazz undertone, the students play Latin, R&B, and rock as well. "I am a diehard jazz fan, but I do get bored of the same thing. Sometimes you have to throw a little salsa or funk in it to spice it up," Davies says.

Jamie Armstrong is a senior at PSUC and plays in the jazz ensemble group at the school that Davies is head of. Armstrong says he has been around music all his life and played the clarinet in high school, but didn't really get into it seriously when he entered college. Armstrong started playing the clarinet in the larger, classical band on campus called the Symphonic Band at PSUC, which is where Davies discovered his talents and asked him to try out the saxophone. "I had never played the saxophone before, but it was a wind instrument, and I was used to that because of the clarinet, so I thought I'd give it a try," Armstrong says. "I wasn't serious about the sax at first, but then I started taking lessons and really got into it. It was the best thing I think I've ever done." He has been playing the saxophone for about three-and-a-half years since he entered the ensemble.

Besides playing in the jazz ensemble, Armstrong also plays in the local Plattsburgh band Lucid. The band is made up of Armstrong who plays the sax as well as friends from high school and other musicians from Lake Placid and Virginia. "This kid is good. I've played with his band at Higher Grounds, which is a club in Vermont, and it was a lot of fun," Davies says. Davies and Armstrong have grown close as musicians and friends. Armstrong has learned a lot from Davies and has grown as a musician from what he has learned.

Another student among the group is sophomore JT Maple. JT is one of the youngest kids in the group but according to Davies, "He's a kid with a lot of talent." Like Armstrong, Maple has also been around music since he can remember, and it is something that he is very passionate about. "Playing in the ensemble isn't something I feel obligated to do. I never feel like that with music. I'm just on stage jamming with people who enjoy what they do just as much as I do. I love it," Maple says. Not only has Davies talked about Maple's talent in the ensemble, but his fellow band mates do as well. "JT has a great Hendrix sound. He can play music and get it by ear, which is something that is very hard to do because jazz is really complicated," Armstrong says. Davies agrees; he says that although Maple is young, he's someone who has a lot of talent under is belt and has a lot of great potential.

As gifted as his students may turn out to be, Davies is the one behind it all. He has passed down personal experiences and really encourages them to go for it, as he did. Davies tells his students to know their own voice in music. "The most important thing as a musician is to develop your own style, your own identity." Everyone has a calling in life. It's the feeling you get deep down inside that you are truly passionate about and cannot and will not get it out of you. To these guys, it's jazz.

Have you heard Rick Davies' music?