Wallace Davenport R.I.P.
Helge Gundersen
by Lynne Jensen
New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 21, 2004
Wallace Foster Davenport, an award-winning trumpet player, died
Thursday at the Lutheran Home of New Orleans. He was 78.
Mr. Wallace played music in his hometown of New Orleans and around
the world, his daughter Brenda Taylor said.
"He would get an impromptu band together" for gigs in France,
Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, she said. He also played in
Japan and performed for King Olav of Norway, Taylor said.
Mr. Davenport recorded with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and Sammy
Davis Jr., Taylor said.
"He played with all the best bands in the United States, and he was a
gentleman all the way," said jump bluesman, songwriter and producer
Dave Bartholomew, 83. "He was a beautiful player and a beautiful
person. Everybody wanted to sit in with him."
Mr. Davenport was "a nice guy and a hell of a musician," said
Joseph "Smoky" Johnson, 67, a retired drummer who once played with
Fats Domino.
Mr. Davenport "was one of the better trumpet players that ever lived
in the city of New Orleans," Johnson said. "I enjoyed playing with
him."
Mr. Davenport played regularly at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival and the French Quarter Festival.
His awards include a plaque from the City of New Orleans for his
musical contribution, and lifetime achievement awards from the
Preservation Resource Center's African-American Historic Preservation
Council, the New Orleans Streets Arts Council and the Ashe Cultural
Center.
Survivors include Taylor; a stepdaughter, Alonia Davis; a stepson,
Blanton Shepherd; a sister, Nonita Watson; and two grandsons.
Fellow musicians are welcome to participate in a musical tribute
Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist
Church, 2538 Jackson Ave.
"I'm going to play a trumpet solo," Bartholomew said.
Visitation will be at the church from 8 to 9:30 a.m., and a funeral
will follow the musical tribute at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be in Mt.
Olivet Cemetery. Calvin J. Young Funeral Home is in charge of
arrangements.
jaykay
You might wish to look at an appreciation (by me) of Wallace Davenport
at
groups.yahoo.com/group/jazz-traditional_swing_mainstream
He certainly deserved to be better known, but I suppose the same could
be said about many mainstream players whose music hasn't been in
demand for decades - unless you count the relatively few of us who
appreciate fine jazz. And our numbers are diminishing, too.
Helge Gundersen
by Jay Mazza
Louisiana Weekly, March 29, 2004
World-renowned trumpeter Wallace Davenport passed away on March 18 at
the age of 78. Davenport was adept at a variety of styles in addition
to the traditional jazz that he was most famous for in his hometown
of New Orleans. He played in brass bands as a young man; branched out
into swing and bebop when jazz itself was changing, before returning
to his roots in his later years.
Davenport's resume reads like the history of jazz itself. The list of
musicians he performed and/or recorded with include the Young Tuxedo
Brass Band, Oscar "Papa" Celestin, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Ray
Charles, Lloyd Price, the Zion Harmonizers, Earl "Fatha" Hines,
Quincy Jones, Sammy Davis, Jr., Arthur Prysock, Phil Upchurch, and
Frank Sinatra. He even recorded the blues with Junior Wells on the
harmonica player's 1968 release, Coming At You.
Wallace Davenport was born on June 30, 1925. His father was the late
Sidney Davenport and his mother the late Adele Dickerson. His mother
gave him his first trumpet when he was seven years old and he was
known to say on that day, "I threw down my baseball bat and picked up
my horn."
His formal musical education began at Tommy Lafon Elementary School
but continued on the streets of New Orleans where he played with the
Young Tuxedo Brass Band in 1938 and with the legendary cornetist
Oscar "Papa" Celestin in 1941.
At the age of 17, he joined the navy when the United States entered
World War II. During his tour of duty, he spent four years in the
Navy Band.
In 1953, he met vibraphonist Lionel Hampton at a New Orleans
nightclub where he was promptly invited to join Hampton's band. He
performed with Hampton for several years and recorded two albums
during the 1950s -- Lionel Hampton Live in Vienna, Volumes 1 and 2.
He would return to perform and record again and again with Hampton
resulting in two more albums in the 1960s, one in the 1970s and one
in the 1990s. His last recording with Hampton was the 2001 release,
Flying Home.
He also spent four years the 1960s touring with Count Basie where he
served as first trumpet in the great bandleader's orchestra. That
association led to a number of recordings including Live at the
Sands, recorded in 1966 when the Basie band was opening for and
supporting Frank Sinatra. Davenport also appears on the second
collaborative studio recording between Sinatra and Basie, the 1964
release, It Might As Well Be Swing.
However, Davenport's greatest claim to fame outside of New Orleans
has to be his stint as trumpeter and bandleader for Ray Charles. He
toured with the singer's big band and appeared on some of his more
popular recordings until a heroin bust temporarily derailed Charles'
career in 1965.
In 1969, Davenport returned home for good performing with both jazz
and gospel groups as a leader and sideman. Throughout the early part
of the 1970s, he recorded for his own label, My Jazz. Davenport also
released several albums as a leader on other labels beginning in 1972
with Darkness on the Delta.
He continued to tour and record occasionally outside of New Orleans,
traveling to Europe with New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
impresario George Wein in 1974. In 1976, he recorded The Wild Man
From Texas with tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb.
He stands out on Earl "Fatha" Hines' 1975 album In New Orleans, where
he appears with other local notables like bassist Lloyd Lambert,
clarinetist Orange Kellin and drummer Louis Barbarin on the great
pianist's foray into New Orleans jazz. Davenport also sings two
numbers on that album.
Davenport was a devoted Christian and it was often reflected in his
music. In the 1970s, he formed his own gospel group, the Wallace
Davenport Gospel Singers. He arranged versions of religious standards
for the group. In later years, he also performed with the Zion
Harmonizers.
He is survived by a daughter, Brenda Taylor; a sister, Nonita Watson;
a stepdaughter, Alonia Davis; a stepson, Blanton Shepard; and two
grandsons.