PROGRAM OFFERINGS
In addition to performing traditional recitals, concertos with orchestra, and chamber music, John Davis tours with two unique, theatrically-driven, programs, Will the Real Thomas Wiggins Please Stand Up! and The John Davis Caravan: Standing At the Crossroads, both outgrowths of my lifelong immersion in black culture of the Deep South.
WILL THE REAL THOMAS WIGGINS PLEASE STAND UP!
Conceived, written, and performed by John Davis, Will the Real Thomas Wiggins Please Stand Up! is a one-man, multi-media, theatrical concert featuring the charming and historically-evocative music of the Georgia slave pianist/composer, Thomas Wiggins, more popularly known as "Blind Tom." Blending live performances by Davis of Tom’s piano works with a host of theatrical elements, including projected video images, pre-recorded firsthand accounts by those who crossed paths with Blind Tom, stage lighting, and supplementary music, Will the Real Thomas Wiggins Please Stand Up! retraces Davis' personal quest to unlock the mysteries of Wiggins’ controversial life and career.
THE JOHN DAVIS CARAVAN: STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS
Another outgrowth of John Davis' career on the cusp between classical music and the blues has been The John Davis Caravan: Standing At the Crossroads, Mr. Davis' nightclub show of "roots" American piano works influenced by Southern black culture. In a nod to Ray Charles, James Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, Z.Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Marvin Sease, and Bobby Rush, just some of the legendary performers Mr. Davis have seen firsthand in predominantly-black night-clubs and theaters that still flourish in the Deep South, Standing At the Crossroads adopts many of the flamboyant, evocative performance rituals common to all Chitlin’ Circuit revues, including piped-in pre-show historic soul-blues recordings by many of the Chitlin’ Circuit’s major figures, a loud-mouthed, fast-talking emcee (akin to those employed by James Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Little Milton), and hilarious interchanges between Mr. Davis, the emcee, and the audience (a reference to the notoriously humorous shows of Marvin Sease, Denise Lasalle, and Bobby Rush), all elements intended to serve as a cultural backdrop to the blues-inflected piano music that is being performed. By set’s conclusion, Standing At the Crossroads has achieved a similar effect to that of any typical Chitlin’ Circuit show: a musical experience that, despite its artifice, is both evocative and entertaining, and, at its core, deeply moving.
WILL THE REAL THOMAS WIGGINS PLEASE STAND UP!
Conceived, written, and performed by John Davis, Will the Real Thomas Wiggins Please Stand Up! is a one-man, multi-media, theatrical concert featuring the charming and historically-evocative music of the Georgia slave pianist/composer, Thomas Wiggins, more popularly known as "Blind Tom." Blending live performances by Davis of Tom’s piano works with a host of theatrical elements, including projected video images, pre-recorded firsthand accounts by those who crossed paths with Blind Tom, stage lighting, and supplementary music, Will the Real Thomas Wiggins Please Stand Up! retraces Davis' personal quest to unlock the mysteries of Wiggins’ controversial life and career.
THE JOHN DAVIS CARAVAN: STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS
Another outgrowth of John Davis' career on the cusp between classical music and the blues has been The John Davis Caravan: Standing At the Crossroads, Mr. Davis' nightclub show of "roots" American piano works influenced by Southern black culture. In a nod to Ray Charles, James Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, Z.Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Marvin Sease, and Bobby Rush, just some of the legendary performers Mr. Davis have seen firsthand in predominantly-black night-clubs and theaters that still flourish in the Deep South, Standing At the Crossroads adopts many of the flamboyant, evocative performance rituals common to all Chitlin’ Circuit revues, including piped-in pre-show historic soul-blues recordings by many of the Chitlin’ Circuit’s major figures, a loud-mouthed, fast-talking emcee (akin to those employed by James Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Little Milton), and hilarious interchanges between Mr. Davis, the emcee, and the audience (a reference to the notoriously humorous shows of Marvin Sease, Denise Lasalle, and Bobby Rush), all elements intended to serve as a cultural backdrop to the blues-inflected piano music that is being performed. By set’s conclusion, Standing At the Crossroads has achieved a similar effect to that of any typical Chitlin’ Circuit show: a musical experience that, despite its artifice, is both evocative and entertaining, and, at its core, deeply moving.
posted by John Davis at 6:17 AM
2 Comments:
How could there be no comments yet on this fascinating tour through what John Davis has already done to bring back to life the important pianistic voices of Blind Tom and a host of other American musicians? What a treat it is to learn something of Mr. Davis's work! I look forward to purchasing and hearing his CD of Thomas Wiggins's music.
I knew him when: John grew up in the shadow of--and later attended--Brown University. I had the mixed blessing (just kidding) of being a dorm neighbor. I recall a musical epiphany that stays with me still: one afternoon at his parents' house, John played for me James Brown's "Get up offa that thing." To this day, I cannot hear the song without flashing back, nor without getting up offa that thing...and 'dance[ing] till I feel better.'
Post a Comment
<< Home