Nathan Davis

Fields

Jazz, African American Music.

Director, University of Pittsburgh Jazz Ensemble.

Teaching

History of Jazz; African American Music; Jazz Improvisation; Jazz Arranging; Saxophone.

Selected Honors/Awards

Ford Foundation Grants to establish the University of Pittsburgh International Academy of Jazz, 1999, 2000, 2002.

Ford Foundation Grant to establish the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Outreach Program, 2003.

Robert M. Frankel Award of City Theatre, Pittsburgh, 1995.

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship, 1984.

Selected Publications

Writings in Jazz (6th ed., Kendall/Hunt, 2002).

African American Music in Society (Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1996).

International Jazz Archives Journal, founder and editor.

Selected Recordings and Video

"Live:" Jazz at Pitt: The 25th Anniversary Concert CD (Pittsburgh, 1995). Celebration of the Silver Anniversary of the Jazz Seminar and Concert at the University of Pittsburgh.

London by Night Sound Recording (London, 1987).

Roots: Salute to the Saxophone. Video Recording (Eagle Rock Entertainment, 1992).

Kings on the Hill: Baseball's Forgotten Men. Video Recording. Music by Nathan Davis. (San Pedro Productions, 1993).

Compositions

Just Above My Head. Opera based on the novel by James Baldwin. (Pittsburgh, 1985).

Symphony No. 1 for Orchestra and Jazz Soloists.

Performances

Nathan Davis has performed widely throughout the world, most recently in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Cologne.

He has led the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Ensemble in concerts in Jamaica every summer for the past 14 years.

Activities

Outreach programs in Dubai, Ghana, Bahia, and Jordan.

Founding director, annual University of Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar and Concert, which for 39 years has brought together some of the world's leading jazz performers to work with students and to perform together.

Founder, University of Pittsburgh's International Academy of Jazz/Hall of Fame and the Sonny Rollins International Jazz Archives.

Faculty member, Ravinia Summer Jazz Program.

Director of Faculty, John F. Kennedy Center's Jazz Ahead Program.

Past Director, Thelonius Monk Institute at Aspen.