Eddie Lockjaw Davis

[Brad]

I would have missed this but for WKCR devoting their midday out to lunch program to him. Hard to have too many superlatives for him.

He first shined (at least for me) on a date with Fats Navarro. Favorite dates: Jaws 'n Stitt, the Cookbook sessions, his pairings with Johnny Griffin, especially. Recent reissues that stand out for me are Bacalao with Shirley Scott, as well as Savoy's reissue of the Muse original, the Heavy Hitter. A very nice date.

[JSngry]

Jaws was, excuse my language, a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDD MUTHAPHUKEER!!!!!

You can't explain how he played the instrument, because he had some homemade techniques (best as I can tell). James Carter seems to have figured them out, lots of them anyway, but he's the only one that I know of. And as excellent a player as Carter is, he don't have the swagger & swing of Lock. NOBODY did, not like that. Any talk of "originality" that doesn't give Lockjaw serious consideration as a leading exponent is a talk that is worth neither listening to nor participating in, since it obviously is clueless in origin.

And don't get me started on the magic that happened when him & Griff got together and both of them were in the mood. Long Dong Silver & John Holmes combined resemble a baby in ice water in comparison to what gets going there.

Yeah, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - a PLAYER!!!

HELL YEAH!!!!

[Dan Gould]

On the subject of Lockjaw pairings, Lock & Sweets was another great combination. In addition to Jawbreakers which is available on OJC, there're a couple of nice dates on Black & Blue, which turned out to be done in a single monster session-I guess they just split up the tunes and said, OK, on these, you're the leader, Lock, and on these, its you, Sweets! Another nice one is Sonny, Sweets and Jaws on the Who's Who label, recorded in Fort Lauderdale, FL at Bubba's, Lockjaw, Sweets and Sonny Stitt, backed by Eddie Higgins.

[Chrome]

I recently picked up "Tough Tenors" with Davis/Griffin ... it's definitely fantastic ... and some more for the Cookbooks!

[brownie]

An unusual pairing that worked was Eddie Davis and Zoot Sims 'The Tenor Giants' on Pablo. Something like oil and vinnegar mixing well...

[Larry Kart]

Don't remember whether it was said by Booker Ervin in a DB Blindfold Test or by Dexter Gordon in conversation, but my favorite remark about Lockjaw's playing was: "Damn, that Jaws plays backwards!"

Now that I think again, I'm pretty sure that those words were Ervin's (referring, I assume, both to Jaws' methods of note production and the resulting shape of his phrases), while Dexter's bemused remark, which I don't recall exactly but which sounded similar to what Ervin said, referred to Jaws's way of backing himself into harmonic corners and then just battering his way right out.

[catesta]

An unusual pairing that worked was Eddie Davis and Zoot Sims 'The Tenor Giants' on Pablo. Something like oil and vinnegar mixing well...

Agree.

Let us not forget how great he was with Basie.

[mikeweil]

And wasn't he briefly in the Kenny Clarke - Francy Boland Big Band, with equally great results?

for Lockjaw!

[Alexander Hawkins]

Flight of the Foo Birds!!!

[couw]

another very enjoyable album (IMHO)

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis ts

Horace Parlan p

Reggie Johnson b

Alvin Queen dr

titles:

1 I'll Remember April

2 Young Man With A Horn

3 What Is This Thing Called Love

4 Broadway

5 But Beatiful

6 Jaw's Blues

7 On Green Dolphin Street

The Days Of Wine And Roses

Rec. Date: Feb. 11th, 1981

on Enja

[catesta]

Lockjaw with Jo Jones.

[catesta]