Thomas Davis (musician)
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Thomas Davis (born January 11, 1959) is an American school teacher and jazz composer.
An aspiring jazz composer from the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York, Tom Davis teaches music at a public high school while tending to a family of four. A student at Auburn High School in the 1970s, Davis, a trumpeter, gained admission to Ithaca College's School of Music. There he studied under Steve Brown, the guitarist, and others. Upon graduating, Davis enrolled in the master's program in Jazz and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Influences on his playing include Rayburn Wright, Bill Dobbins, Manny Albam, Joe LaBarbera, and Vincent DiMartino.
After receiving his degree from Eastman, Davis took a series of teaching jobs at small high schools in upstate New York, finally settling on Canandaigua Academy, a school perhaps known more for its athletics than its music program. Davis helped produce a handful of luminaries in the mid to late 90s, among them Mike Bomwell, Regan Fletcher and particularly Alex Hamlin, who also attended Eastman.
Davis's compositions vary in style, from energetic works like "Bill Bailey" to softer contemplative pieces such as "Island of Introspection". Melodic sensibility and yearning, unresolved chords characterize much of his work. He won the IAJE String and Composition contests in 1985.
