Nathan Davis

Jazz Saxophonist and Composer

US jazz tenor and soprano saxophone player, head of the Jazz Studies Department at the University of Pittsburgh, and founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh's annual Jazz Seminar. Born 15 February 1937 in Kansas City, Kansas, died 8 April 2018 in Palm Beach, Florida. A multi-instrumentalist, Davis played all the reed instruments and had recently taken up flügelhorn. He was a prolific composer and arranger, and authored 'Writings In Jazz', an analysis of the history and development of the music. He had previously played with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. Davis first took up saxophone in high school after starting out on trombone. After finishing US Army service in 1962 he decided to stay on in Europe and between 1963 and 1969 he lived on the Left Bank in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1969 to join the University of Pittsburgh as Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies. He holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Annual Jazz Seminar. He also founded the first incarnation of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra in the mid-1980s.