Art Davis

Described by critic Nat Hentoff as "beyond category," double bassist Art Davis boasted an absolute mastery of the instrument that extended across multiple musical idioms. The creative apex of his career was his long-running collaboration with jazz immortal John Coltrane, a partnership that spanned from the landmark A Love Supreme to the saxophonist's 1967 death. Born December 5, 1933, in Harrisburg, PA, Davis began studying piano at age five, later adopting the tuba because it was the only instrument available in his middle-school band. Deciding on a career in music, he moved to the double bass, an instrument he believed would afford him a multitude of professional opportunities. Despite training with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Davis was roundly criticized and rejected during an audition for the Harrisburg Symphony -- conductor Edwin MacArthur intuited that the selection committee's decision was based less on Davis' talent than on his skin color, charging the judges with racism and threatening to resign if they did not revise their decision. Davis served with the orchestra while completing high school, and after graduation studied classical music on a scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music, followed by a stint at Juilliard under the tutelage of cellist Lazlo Varga and New York Philharmonic bassist Anselme Fortier. He also moonlighted playing jazz on the New York City nightclub circuit, finally graduating from Hunter College with a triple major in psychology, music, and physics. Davis made his recorded debut in 1958 when he played the Newport Jazz Festival in drummer Max Roach's now-legendary quintet, a lineup also featuring trumpeter Booker Little and tenor saxophonist George Coleman. While supporting Roach during a residency at Harlem's Small's...