Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1 Steve Davis

• 1 Interface 05:28
• 2 Isn't it Romantic 04:19
• 3 Polka Dots and Moonbeams 06:00
• 4 Cry Me a River 05:32
• 5 But Beautiful 04:46
• 6 We'll Be Together Again 05:12
• Total Runtime 31:17

Info for Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1

Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1 features the legendary pianist in one of his final recordings on a poetic and interactive session with leader/trombonist Steve Davis and bassist Peter Washington.

In June 2008, pianist Hank Jones, trombonist Steve Davis, and bassist Peter Washington recorded this poetic, interactive, impeccably executed, never-before-released recital, titled "Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones" shortly after Jones had undergone quadruple bypass heart surgery at the end of 2006 and a month before he turned 90. Not only is it one of Jones’ final sessions, but it is one of the finest of his extraordinary career.

“It was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,” says Davis of his sixth Smoke Sessions leader release. “Wherever I wanted to go, Hank was there – not in your way, but ready to support you, to take you somewhere. It was the essence of jazz – that thing that happens between us when we play and create and speak the language in real-time. My idea was that it would be like Hank and Peter playing duo at Bradley’s (the iconic Greenwich Village piano saloon where Jones played regularly until the early 1990s), with me sitting in, trying not to mess it up.”

The result has Davis improvising melodic variations with an enveloping, vocalized tone, phrasing long, logical lines with fluid propulsion, propelled by Washington’s elegant, unerringly kinetic flow. The music represents Jones’ genius perhaps more successfully than any other album he made during the final decade of his life. “Hank embodied the history of jazz,” Davis says. “It encompasses this decades-long span of jazz music, and somehow is distilled into this absolute direct concept. When you hear him play stride piano, the blues, the American Songbook, swing, bebop. You hear the French Impressionists, Chopin. You hear modern jazz, or perhaps what influenced pianists like Herbie Hancock or Bill Evans or McCoy Tyner, all the pianists we regard as the ones who’ve led us into the future. Hank is all of it.”

"All exquisite standard fare played with precision, class, and joy." - Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine

"Jones’ playing, steeped in the blues, provides a sturdy framework for Davis’ ultra-melodic lead work..." - Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

Steve Davis, trombone
Hank Jones, piano
Peter Washington, bass

Recorded on June 17, 2008 at JLP Studio, South Orange, New Jersey
Engineered by John Lee
Mixed and Mastered by Chris Allen
Produced by Paul Stache & Damon Smith

Steve Davis
“Stevie-D” nickname given to him by the late Jackie McLean.

Born in Worcester, MA in 1967, Davis was raised in Binghamton, NY and graduated in 1989 from Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute. It was with McLean’s guidance and recommendation that Davis landed his first major performance with Art Blakey in NYC. In 98’ Steve winning the TDWR (Rising Star) Trombone Category and later named consecutively as Trombonist of the Year by The JJA – (2010-2013). 


Widely regarded as one of today’s leading voices on the trombone. His lyrical, hard-swinging style first gained him broad recognition. Steve has released 20 albums including: Think Ahead (2017), Say When (2015), For Real & Gettin’ It Done (2014) featuring his longtime musical colleagues Larry Willis and Nat Reeves along with drummer Billy Williams, saxophonists Abraham Burton (For Real), Mike DiRubbo and trumpeter Josh Bruneau (Gettin’ It Done), in addition to over 100 recordings with names including: Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver, Cedar Walton, Hank Jones. In 2018 his original composition “Optimism” was included in Christian McBride’s Grammy Award winning album “Bringin’ it”. Steve Davis’ latest release with his sextet “Correlations” (label: Smoke Sessions Records) Steve features Joshua Bruneau, trumpet; Wayne Escoffery, tenor saxophone; Xavier Davis, piano; Dexron Dougles, bass; Johnathan Barber, drums; Caro Baptista, percussion on “Batista Revenge”.

He leads his groups All-Star quartet Larry Willis (Alone Together/Mapleshade 2006) and his exciting, Outlook Quintet featuring rising stars Mike DiRubbo (alto sax), David Bryant (piano), Dezron Douglas (bass) and Eric McPherson (drums) regularly performing at Smoke and Smalls Jazz Club (NYC); The Greater Hartford Jazz Festival, Baltimore’s Eubie Blake Center, The Richmond Jazz Society, Hartford Jazz Society.

Steve performs internationally with Dizzy Gillespie’s All-Stars, Jimmy Heath, Ron Carter. Chick Corea & My Spanish Heart Band, Origin, he has appeared at The Jimmy Fallon with Steve Wonder, at the White House Tribute to Ray Charles (PBS) and records with the collective unit One For All (Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi, David Hazeltine, John Webber and Joe Farnsworth), Larry Willis, Harold Malberen.Widely regarded as one of today’s leading voices on the trombone. His lyrical, hard-swinging style first gained him broad recognition.

This album contains no booklet.