Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis (born February 20, 1951), is an American pianist and composer. He incorporates several styles including jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian gamelan, and experimental music.[1] Davis is perhaps 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.
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.
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 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
As leader/co-leader
- 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: Epistēmē (Gramavision)
- 1982: I've Known Rivers (Gramavision)
- 1982: Variations in Dream-Time (India Navigation)
- 1983: Hemispheres (Gramavision)
- 1984: Middle Passage (Gramavision)
- 1985: Return from Space (Wonder Nonfiction) (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)
- 2008: Amistad (New World)
As sideman
With Barry Altschul
- For Stu (Soul Note, 1979)
With Ray Anderson
- Blues Bred in the Bone (Enja, 1988)
With Anthony Braxton
- Six Compositions: Quartet (Antilles, 1982)
With Marion Brown
With Chico Freeman
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 Bobby Previte
- Hue and Cry (Enja, 1992)
With David Murray
- Ming (Black Saint, 1980)
- Home (Black Saint, 1982)
- David Murray Quintet (DIW, 1994)
With Wadada Leo Smith
- Reflectativity (Kabell, 1975) also released on Kabell Years: 1971-1979 (Tzadik, 2004)
- Song of Humanity (Kabell, 1977) also released on Kabell Years: 1971–1979 (Tzadik, 2004)
- Reflectativity (Tzadik, 2000)
- Golden Quartet (Tzadik, 2000)
- The Year of the Elephant (Pi, 2002)
- Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012)
- America's National Parks (Cuneiform, 2016)