David Bowie producer and collaborator Tony Visconti confirmed the sad news that longtime drummer Dennis Davis died after a hard fought battle with cancer.
Davis played on Bowie’s Young Americans in 1975 and continued to work him touring and in the studio, performing on all three of Bowie records Low, Heroes and Lodger.
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In an interview with Uncut magazine in 1999, Bowie spoke about Davis’ playing on those records, calling him “a powerfully emotive drummer… The tempo not only ‘moved’ but also was expressed in more than ‘human’ fashion.”Born and raised in Manhattan, Davis learned to drum under the tutelage of jazz greats Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He began playing with the Clark Terry Big Band in 1967, but was called to serve in Vietnam, where he was wounded during a tour but was able to hone his skills in the U.S. Navy’s Drum and Bugle Corps. Along with playing for Bowie after his service, Davis racked up credits with Roy Ayers, George Benson, Ronnie Foster and Stevie Wonder. In recent years, per his website, Davis had been piecing together his first solo album, The Groovemaster, though it had yet to be released before his death. h/t rollingstone
Visconti remembered Davis on Facebook as “one of the most creative drummers I have ever worked with … He was a disciplined jazz drummer who tore into Rock with a Jazz sensibility.