Charles Davis has been played on NTS in shows including Sees to Exist Show, featured first on 7 February 2016. Songs played include Super 80 and Jericho Jazz.

Charles Davis (May 20, 1933 – July 15, 2016) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Davis played alto, tenor and baritone saxophone and has performed extensively with Archie Shepp and Sun Ra among many others.

Born in Goodman, Mississippi, Davis was raised in Chicago. He graduated from DuSable High School before studying at the Chicago School of Music. Davis also studied privately with John Hauser. During the 1950s, he played with Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Sun Ra and Dinah Washington. Davis also performed and recorded with Kenny Dorham, with whom he associated musically for many years.

During the 1960s, he performed and recorded with Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, Illinois Jacquet, Freddie Hubbard, Johnny Griffin, Steve Lacy and Ahmad Jamal, also working with Blue Mitchell, Erskine Hawkins, John Coltrane and Clifford Jordan. In 1964, Davis topped Downbeat Magazine's International Jazz Critics Poll for baritone saxophone. He performed in the musical The Philosophy of The Spiritual – A Masque of the Black with Willie Jones, produced by Nadi Qamar. Davis taught at PS 179 in Brooklyn and was musical director of the Turntable, a nightclub owned by Lloyd Price.

During the 1970s, Davis was a member of the cooperative Artistry in Music with Hank Mobley, Cedar Walton, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins. He co-led, composed and arranged for the Baritone Saxophone Retinue, a six-baritone-saxophone group. Davis toured Europe, playing major jazz festivals and concerts with the Clark Terry Orchestra, and toured the United States with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. As musical director of the Home of the Id nightclub, he presented Gene Ammons, Randy Weston and Max Roach. As producer of the Monday Night Boat Ride Up The Hudson, Davis presented Art Blakey, George Benson and Etta Jones. He appeared on television with Archie Shepp, Lucky Thompson, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.

During the 1980s, Davis performed and recorded with the Philly Joe Jones Quartet, Dameronia and Abdullah Ibrahim’s Ekaya in the U.S., Europe and Africa and toured Europe with Savoy Seven Plus 1: A Salute to Benny Goodman. With his own quartet he performed in Rome, at the Bologna Jazz Festival, the Jazz in Sardinia Festival and the La Spezia Festival. Davis was musical director of the Syncopation nightclub and performed in the film, The Man with Perfect Timing, with Abdullah Ibrahim. In 1984, he was named a BMI Jazz Pioneer.

During the 1990s, Davis was the musical librarian for Spike Lee's Mo Better Blues.[citation needed] He performed at the Jamaica Jazz Festival with Dizzy Reece, returning to perform with Roy Burrowes. Davis played in the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame Band with Ray Charles, Joe Williams and Nancy Wilson. He toured the Netherlands in a salute to the music of Kenny Dorham, and was a guest artist at the 12th annual North Carolina Jazz Festival at Duke University. A featured soloist with the Barry Harris Jazz Ensemble, Davis performs in clubs with the Barry Harris-Charles Davis Quartet. He recorded and toured Europe and Japan with the Clifford Jordan Big Band. Davis played tenor saxophonist and arranged for Larry Ridley's Jazz Legacy Ensemble, which appeared at the Senegal Jazz Festival, performed concerts and conducted clinics, seminars and master classes. The ensemble also appeared in a concert series at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He was a featured artist at the Amman Jazz Festival, produced by the American Embassy. Davis was also a featured artist in clubs and concerts in Paris, Toulouse and Hamburg. He appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the original production of Eduardo Machado's Stevie Wants to Play the Blues], directed by Jim Simpson. Davis played in the Three Baritone Saxophone Band with Ronnie Cuber and Gary Smulyan (touring Italy) and appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the 1998 JVC Jazz & Image Festival at Villa Celimontana in Rome and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. The saxophonist was a featured soloist at the 1998 Chicago Jazz Festival. In June 1999, Davis performed with Aaron Bell and the Duke Ellington Tribute Orchestra at the Jackie Robinson Afternoon of Jazz Festival in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a featured artist at the 1999 Jazz & Image Festival.

Since 2000, Davis had been a featured artist at the Blue Note in Beirut, a number of other clubs in Italy and Spain and at the 2000 Jazz & Image Festival. With his quartet, he played on the M.S. Dynasty, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship. Davis produced and performed in the Tribute to Stanley Turrentine concert in Philadelphia. In August 2001, he performed for President Bill Clinton at the Harlem Welcomes Clinton celebration. The Barry Harris-Charles Davis Quintet appeared several times at Sweet Basil in New York City and continues to perform together, including yearly appearances at Birdland. In August 2004, they performed for the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival. Davis was a featured artist at the 14th annual Jazz Festival in Badajoz, Spain, and was a member of the Walter Booker Quintet. He performed with his quartet at New York's Rubin Museum of Art and performed in the Netherlands, Denmark and Israel. In addition to performing and recording with guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and the El Mollenium Band (featuring the music of Elmo Hope), in 2009 Davis toured Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy with the Charles Davis All-stars: A Tribute to Kenny Dorham; the following year, the quintet performed in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. In addition to his own quartet, featuring Tardo Hammer (piano), Lee Hudson (bass) and Jimmy Wormworth (drums), the saxophonist performs with the Spirit of Life Ensemble in the U.S. and Europe.

Davis was a private saxophone instructor for students from The New School and a teacher at the Lucy Moses School. For over 25 years, he has been an instructor at the Jazzmobile Workshops. Davis has recorded eight albums, and is featured on over 100 recordings. Some of his CDs as a leader include Blue Gardenia, with Cedar Walton on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums, on Reade Street Records; Land of Dreams, with Tardo Hammer, Lee Hudson and Jimmy Wormworth, released in 2007 on Smalls Records, and Our Man in Copenhagen (the music of Bent Jaedig, released in October 2008 on Fresh Sound Records, with Sam Yahel, Ben Street, and Kresten Osgood. The Charles Davis Allstars: A Tribute to Kenny Dorham (with Tom Kirkpatrick on trumpet, Claus Raible on piano, Giorgos Antoniou on bass and Bernd Reiter on drums), recorded live at the Bird's Eye in Basel, Switzerland, was released in 2010.

Discography As leader 1974: Ingia! (Strata-East Records, with Ronnie Mathews, Louis Hayes, David Williams, Andrew "Tex" Allen, Gerald Hayes, Louis Davis) recorded at Minot Sound in White Plains, NY Engineered and Co-Produced by John Battiloro 1979: Dedicated to Tadd (West 54 Records)[2] 1982: Super 80 (Nilva Records) with Walter Booker, Gene Adler, Michael Carvin 1990: Reflections (Red Records) with Barry Harris, Peter Washington, Ben Riley 2003: Blue Gardenia(Reade Street Records) with Cedar Walton, Peter Washington, Joe Farnsworth 2007: Land of Dreams (Smalls Records) 2014: For the Love of Lori (Reade Street Records) with Rick Germanson, Neal Smith, Joe Magnarelli, Steve Davis and David Williams.

As sideman Album Label Artist Live in New York Reservoir Music Barry Harris

Anna’s Dance Reservoir Music Roni Ben-Hur

Golden Boy Colpix
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers

Down Here Below Verve Records
Jeffery Smith

Bert’s Blues Consolidated Artists CAP
Nancie Banks Orchestra

Ways of Peace Consolidated Artists CAP
Nancie Banks Orchestra

Down Through The Years Milestone Records
Clifford Jordan

Oasis Muse Records
Shirley Scott

The Hearinga Suite Black Saint Records Muhal Richard Abrams

Ekaya Ekapa
Abdullah Ibrahim

Water from an Ancient Well Ekapa
Abdullah Ibrahim

Saxotic Stomp Muse Records
Ricky Ford

Filet de Sole Jazz Unite Records
Philly Joe Jones

To Tadd With Love Uptown Records
Philly Joe Jones

Stop, Look and Listen Uptown Records
Philly Joe Jones

Manhattan Project Beehive Dizzy Reece

Cedar Walton Plays Delos
Cedar Walton

Mobius RCA Cedar Walton

Breakthrough! Buddah Records
Cedar Walton/Hank Mobley

Breath of Life Muse Records
Louis Hayes

Numatik Swing Band JCOA
Roswell Rudd & the Jazz Composer's Orchestra

Haitian Bells Alex Pascal Live at Buddy’s Place Vanguard
Clark Terry

Live at the Wichita Jazz Festival Vanguard
Clark Terry

Illumination! Impulse! Records
Elvin Jones/Jimmy Garrison

And Then Again Atlantic Records
Elvin Jones

Jazz Contemporary Time
Kenny Dorham

The Arrival of Kenny Dorham Xanadu Records
Kenny Dorham

Doin' the Thang! Prestige Records
Ronnie Mathews

Dinah Sings Fats Waller Emarcy
Dinah Washington

Dinah Sings Bessie Smith Emarcy
Dinah Washington

What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! Mercury Records Dinah Washington

Doodlin’ Emarcy
Eddie Chamblee

The Straight Horn of Steve Lacy Candid Records
Steve Lacy

Jamaica Farewell Argo Records
Ahmad Jamal

J.G. Big Band Riverside Records
Johnny Griffin

Banded in Boston Epic
Illinois Jacquet

Spiritsville Jazzland
Julian Priester

Sweet Love, Bitter (soundtrack) Impulse Mal Waldron

The Soul Society Riverside
Sam Jones

The Body & the Soul Impulse Freddie Hubbard

Communications JCOAC
Jazz Composers Orchestra

Reggae au Go Go Roy Burrowes For Losers Impulse!
Archie Shepp

Kwanza Impulse! Archie Shepp The Way Ahead Impulse!
Archie Shepp

Estimated Time of Arrival Roulette Records
Bobby Watson

Sound Sun Pleasure!! Sun Ra Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra Visits Planet Earth Sun Ra Jazz in Silhouette Sun Ra Super-Sonic Jazz Sun Ra Interstellar Low Ways Sun Ra New York City R&B Cecil Taylor Jumpin' Punkins Cecil Taylor Impact Charles Tolliver