Wild Bill Davis was a jazz organist, pianist, composer and arranger, who pioneered the use of the electric organ in jazz during the early 1950s prior to the emergence of Jimmy Smith.

He is also well-known for the recordings he made as a pianist/arranger for Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five during the late ‘40s. This 46-track set features recordings which were released on the Okeh, Epic, Imperial and Everest label, and includes selected A- and B-sides of singles, along with titles from the albums Here’s Wild Bill Davis, On The Loose, At Birdland and Evening Concerto on Epic, On Broadway on Imperial, and My Fair Lady, Flying High and Organ Grinders Swing, on Everest. A number of extended performances from his noted At Birdland ‘live’ album are featured here.

It features performances with his various trio members, who were guitarists Bill Jennings, Floyd Smith and Calvin Newborn, drummers Christopher Columbus, Joe Morris, Jo Jones, and Grady Tate, bassist  Milt Hinton and tenor saxophonists Maurice Simon and George Clarke. Ranging across a variety of jazz styles and mainstream repertoire, it’s a varied and entertaining showcase for his highly distinctive style.

REVIEWS

This is a very rewarding collection, and as something of an agnostic where the Hammond organ is concerned, I must admit to b eing on the road to conversion, if not quite there yet. - Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 351)