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Jesse Davis

Alto saxophonist Jesse Davis is one of the new, young lions of jazz coming out of New Orleans, where he was born 1965. He follows in the tradition of the Marsalis family and other Jazz musicians from the Crescent City currently attracting so much attention. Not surprisingly, he studied with Ellis Marsalis at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts.

Jesse showed signs of musical talent at an early age: when he was eleven, his brother Roger (an accomplished tuba player) bought Jesse a saxophone and taught him how to play it. He went on to study with Ellis Marsalis, whose teachings inspired him to become a music student at North-Eastern Illinois University on a full scholarship.

Eventually, he transferred to William Patterson College in New Jersey and then to the New School in New York City, enrolling in their Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. There he was a student of noted Jazz historian Ira Gitler, who says that "...Jesse stood out in the crowd". Through his college years, Davis won awards as outstanding soloist at Jazz Festivals, including Notre Dame, Wichita State, New York University, Southern University and Loyola. In 1989 he won the prestigious "Most Outstanding Musician" award at the Down Beat Music Fest in Philadelphia.

As a sideman, Jesse has gained experience with Jack McDuff, Major Holley, Cecil Payne, Illinois Jacquet, Jay McShann, Chico Hamilton, Junior Mance, Kenny Barron, Tete Montoliu, Cedar Walton, Benny Golson, Tana Reid, the Newport All Stars, Roy Hargrove, The Malboro Super- band and a long list of top jazz artists.

In 1993 Jesse toured Europe fronting his own quartet. In his more than 50 European appearances Jesse has recieved the best of reviews from the critics in Spain, France, Italy and the UK. Other European tours followed in 1994 and 1995. In July of 1996 Jesse toured Europe once again with Phil Woods, Charles McPherson and Gary Bartz, as part of the Sax Machine package.

Between 1994 and 1997, Jesse enjoyed a fruitful musical co-operation with his "homeboy" Nicholas Payton: Verve Records' release "Gumbo nouveau" (1996) features the classic tunes of New Orleans Jazz of the twenties and thirties seen from the scope of a modern Jazzman. 1996 also saw Jesse's debut as an actor in the celebrated Robert Altman movie "Kansas City".

An exclusive Concord Artist, his albums "Horn of passion" (1991), "As we speak" (1992), "Young at Art" (1993), "High standards" (1994) and "From Within" (1996), “First Insight” (1998) and “Second Nature” (2000) and are currently available. Jesse has also recorded with Ray Brown, and “Burning at the Woodhouse” (1997) with Milt Jackson for Qwest. He had a fine outing in 2003 on the Alltribe label with “The Setup.”

Jesse Davis Quartet: Reflections

Read "Reflections" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 3, 2026

New Orleans-bred Jesse Davis delves into the soulful side of the alto saxophone on Reflections, his tenth album as leader and one that was recorded on jny: New York's jny: Long Island, far from Davis' home base of jny:Verona, Italy, where he has lived for more than 20 years with his wife and daughter. One of the perks of recording in New York is the accessibility of blue-ribbon rhythm sections, and Davis has checked that box by enlisting ...

Radio & Podcasts

Barry Greene, Jared Hall, Jesse Davis, Ray Obiedo and more

by Benjamin Boddie
April 23, 2026

Today's Music--Right Now! Fantastic music by Barry Greene, Jared Hall, Jesse Davis, Faye Carol, Abate Berihun & The Addis Ken Project, Ray Obiedo, Shunzo Ohno, The BLCK Madonna, Dave Schumacher & Cubeye, Ben Markley Big Band, Brian Dickinson & Penderecki String Quartet, John Sweenie, Peter Erskine, April Varner, Sam Yahel, Hendrik Meurkens, Walter Smith lll, Tierney Sutton & Tamir Hendelman, Eli Howell, Entre Amigos, Charles Ruggiero, Corcoran Holt, Ulysses Owens Jr., Brian Lynch, Diane Marino, Chris Parker Septet, Bria Skonberg, ...

Album Review

Alvin Queen: The Jazzcup Café Blues

Read "The Jazzcup Café Blues" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
January 6, 2025

Alvin Queen, the legendary drummer who astounded audiences as a child prodigy when he sat in with John Coltrane at Birdland at age twelve, delivers a riveting live performance from Jazzclub Domicile in Pforzheim, Germany, in May 2019. In this eight-track session, Queen is accompanied by Jesse Davis on alto sax, Danny Grissett piano, Dezron Douglas bass, along with percussionist Cesar Granados on a couple of tracks. The set list is a satisfying mix of the familiar and the fresh, ...

Album Review

Jesse Davis: Live at Smalls Jazz Club

Read "Live at Smalls Jazz Club" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 31, 2023

Alto saxophone master Sonny Stitt always chafed when he was called “little Bird," a reference to the greatest alto of them all, Charlie Parker. “I'm not a little Bird," he would say, “I'm me; Sonny Stitt." In similar fashion, Jesse Davis would probably shrug off any comparison to another of the instrument's esteemed patriarchs, the late Julian Cannonball" Adderley. Even so, such a connection is hardly misplaced. To some ears, Davis is the nearest thing to Cannonball since...well, Cannonball himself. ...

Album Review

Charles Tolliver: Connect

by Chris May
July 17, 2020

Put out more flags. Connect, the first release from trumpeter Charles Tolliver in over a decade, is a monster. From the Saturday-night goodtime opener “Blue Soul" through to the intense, Spanish tinged, serpentine closer “Suspicion," the album finds Tolliver still at the top of his game in a recording career which began in the mid 1960s. He fronts a US quintet which brings with it the grit and groove of a mid-1960s Blue Note hard-bop band while sounding totally 2020. ...

In Pictures

Jesse Davis Quartet at Tracce di Jazz Festival 2020

by Danilo Codazzi
February 22, 2020

Photos from the Jesse Davis Quartet's “Tribute to Charlie Parker" concert held at the Comunale Theater in Casalmaggiore, Italy, on February 7th. ...

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Album Review

Jesse Davis: The Setup

by Russ Musto
December 3, 2003

This is the real thing: an authentic, unpretentious set of bebop, ballads and blues played with the profound feeling and burning intensity that many artists strive for but few achieve. Saxophonist Jesse Davis was a featured player in Robert Altman's Kansas City and on this date he seems to be on a mission to revitalize jazz with the energy and excitement of a “real" jazz club, as depicted in that film. The group, featuring Davis' frequent collaborator Peter Bernstein on ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jesse Davis

Source: Michael Ricci
November 9, 2013

All About Jazz is celebrating Jesse Davis' birthday today!

Jesse Davis - alto sax Alto saxophonist Jesse Davis is one of the new, young lions of jazz coming out of New Orleans, where he was born 1965. He follows in the tradition of the Marsalis family and other Jazz musicians from the Crescent City currently attracting so much attention. Not surprisingly, he studied with Ellis Marsalis at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts... Read more.

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