ABOUT MIKE

“Mike Davis, like Chuck Norris, has no time or use for the shift key. He will shift your brain into a new dimension.” Ken Youens-Clark

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“Davis doesn’t conduct himself like the type of improviser who is trying to dazzle you with his chops or his technique.  He comes across as the type of improviser who wants to tell you a story.”  Alex Henderson

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Hi there. I’m Mike. Once upon a time my bio was epic in length and written in third person. I will now attempt a shorter, first person account of myself - a short person, not necessarily first.

 

As you have likely surmised by now, I am a musician. My formal education, which occurred primarily at the University of North Texas College of Music, is in jazz performance, theory and composition as well as in classical performance, theory and composition.

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From my current home base in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley, I maintain a teaching studio, perform and record with The Yagas, and perform and record in general for myself and for others including the ridiculously talented jazz guitarist Derek Bronston.

 

I grew up in Texas, and the lively and creative music scene there in the nineties gave me countless amazing opportunities to perform and record in a diverse array of styles including jazz, salsa, country, rock, reggae and classical. Notable artists and bands I was fortunate to share the stage with include Harry Shepard, Joe LoCascio, Tony Campisi, Woody Witt, Shelly Berg, Little Jack Melody and his Young Turks, Houston Symphonietta and Dave Zoller. Additionally I lead an avant-garde jazz quartet called SAND with guitarist Niclas Hoglind, saxophonist Jacob Duncan and drummer Chris Michael. I will forever be grateful to Praveen at Cosmic Cup in Dallas for giving me a weekly home for years to experiment in literally the most extreme musical ways.

 

In 1998, I moved to NYC. Soon I began working with singer/songwriters as a bassist and producer. Over the twenty plus years there, I helped many incredibly talented artists realize their musical visions. I spent night after night at The Living Room, Baby Jupiter, Mercury Lounge and Rockwood Music Hall with artists including Preston Clarke, Pete Sinjin, Dave Wanamaker, Vered, Greta Gertler, Swivelbox and Fergus McCormick. As many of the records I made with those artists are lost as are not, but all were labors of love and worthy of praise. In each instance I learned at least as much as I contributed. My work with them opened me to a world of song craft that has served to enhance my approach to playing and composing. During this period I was also a member of the power pop band The Pasties, and I performed regularly with jazz artists including Lynne Arriale and Steve Davis, Cheryl Pyle, Tom Chang, Rez Abbasi, Dave Phelps, the SoHa Big Band, and Jonathan Kreisberg.

 

Now that I’ve moved to the mountains, I’ve entered into an unexpected chapter making the heaviest and hardest hitting music of my life with The Yagas. Please check us out if you have not yet done so!

 

Thanks for reading all of this. I promise that this is a much shorter version than what was on my site for years. Trust me, it was waaaaaay too much.

XO

Mike.