Wild Bill Davis
Organ
About
Wild Bill Davis was a jazz organist, pianist, and arranger who pioneered the use of the Hammond B-3 organ in jazz and established the organ-guitar-drums trio format that dominated jazz clubs for decades. After working as a guitarist and arranger for Milt Larkin and as pianist and arranger for Louis Jordan's Tympany Five — where he arranged hits including "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" — he switched to the Hammond organ around 1950 and formed his own trio with guitarist Bill Jennings and drummer Chris Columbus. His 1953 arrangement of "April in Paris" became one of jazz's most celebrated recordings when Count Basie's orchestra recorded it in 1955. He recorded extensively with Johnny Hodges and appeared on Ella Fitzgerald's These Are the Blues. From 1969 to 1971 he served as arranger and organist for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. His conception of the organ as "a replacement in clubs for a big band" directly influenced Jimmy Smith and virtually every jazz organist who followed.
Trivia
Davis was unable to attend the 1955 recording session of his own "April in Paris" arrangement with the Count Basie Orchestra because the truck transporting his Hammond organ broke down. The resulting recording — with its famous "one more time" and "one more once" endings — became Basie's biggest hit. Despite his nickname, created by jazz critic Leonard Feather, Davis was by all accounts a quiet, gentle person; Stanley Dance described him as "a serious, intelligent musician once mistakenly nicknamed 'Wild.'"
Early Life
Born William Strethen Davis on November 24, 1918, in Glasgow, Missouri, he was raised in Parsons, Kansas, where his father, a professional singer, provided his earliest musical exposure. His interest in piano deepened when an orphaned relative brought a Victrola and Fats Waller records into the family home. He won a music scholarship to the Tuskegee Institute in 1937 and later transferred to Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where he discovered his talent for arranging. After graduating, he moved to Chicago in 1939 and joined Milt Larkin's big band as a guitarist and arranger, working alongside future stars Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. He later arranged for Earl Hines before joining Louis Jordan's Tympany Five in 1945 as pianist and arranger.
Wild Bill Davis Solos
1955
Organ solo - Bernie's Tune - 1955
4/4 swing in D minor at 240 BPM
Organ solo - I'll Remember April - 1955
4/4 latin in G major at 228 BPM
Organ solo - Chooch - 1955
4/4 latin in E♭ major at 197 BPM
Organ solo - Whippet - 1955
4/4 latin in A♭ major at 142 BPM