Wild Bill Davis - Collection 1951-60 (2021)

Wild Bill Davis was a jazz organist, pianist, composer and arranger, who pioneered the use of the electric organ in jazz during the early 1950s prior to the emergence of Jimmy Smith. He is also well-known for the recordings he made as a pianist/arranger for Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five during the late ‘40s. Turning to the organ in his solo career, he performed and recorded with different trios which he assembled, using the influential organ/guitar/drums line-up. This great-value 46-track 2-CD set comprises recordings which were released on the Okeh, Epic, Imperial and Everest label, and includes selected A & B sides of singles, along with titles from the albums “Here’s Wild Bill Davis”, “On The Loose”, “At Birdland” and “Evening Concerto” on Epic, “On Broadway” on Imperial, and “Dance The Madison”, “My Fair Lady” and “Flying High” on Everest. A number of extended performances from his noted “At Birdland” ‘live’ album are featured here. It features performances with his various trio members, who were guitarists Bill Jennings, Floyd Smith and Calvin Newborn, drummers Christopher Columbus, Joe Morris, Jo Jones, and Grady Tate, bassist Milt Hinton and tenor saxophonists Maurice Simon and George Clarke. Ranging across a variety of jazz and mainstream repertoire, and exploring an area of notable musical innovation, it’s a varied and entertaining showcase for his highly distinctive style and talent.