Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw,”

Davis, Eddie “Lockjaw,” jazz tenor saxophonist; b. N.Y., March 2, 1922; d. Culver City, Calif., Nov. 3, 1986. He was a unique tenor-sax stylist, who employed rasps and squeals more characteristic of R&B players and filtered them through his own highly original harmonic conception. He taught himself to play the tenor saxophone and began his career as a musician in Harlem; later worked with Cootie Williams (first recording in 1944), Andy Kirk, Lucky Millinder, Louis Armstrong; and subsequently led his own combos. Popular in Harlem, he worked regularly in clubs there throughout the 1940s and 1950s. His nickname came from a late 1940s session where all the tunes were named for illnesses. His 1950s recordings often included an organist (Bill Doggett, Doc Bagby, or, most frequently, Shirley Scott). In 1952 he joined the Count Basie Orch. and for the next 20 years played intermittently with the band, including a London TV broadcast in the mid-1960s. His longest unbroken period with Basie was from 1966–73. He co-led a quintet with saxophonist Johnny Griffin (1960–62) and then retired from music for a period in 1963 and worked as a booking agent. During the 1970s he was often featured in a group with trumpeter Harry Edison. He frequently recorded in Europe, where he had always enjoyed popularity.

Discography

Jaws N’ Stitt at Birdland (1954); Uptown (1955); Count Basie Presents Eddie Davis (1957); Eddie Davis Trio (1958); Eddie Lockjaw Davis Cookbook, Vols. 1–3 (1958); Jaws (1958); Smokiri (1958); Jaws in Orbit (1959); Very Saxy (1959); Battle Stations (1960); Eddie Lockjaw Davis with Shirley Scott (1960); Griff and Lock (I960; with Griffin);Tough Tenors (1960); Trane Whistle (1960); At Minion’s Playhouse (1961); Blues up and Down (1961); First Set (1961); Live at Mintoris (1961); Live! The Breakfast Show (1961); Live! The Late Show (1961); Live! The Midnight Show (1961); Lookin’ at Monk (1961); Tenor Scene (1961); Jawbreakers (1962); Fox and the Hounds (1966); Lock the Fox (1966); Tough Tenors Again ’n Again (1970); Leapin’ on Lennox (1976); Montreux 77 (1977); Jaw’s Blues (1981); Live at the Widder (1982); Sonny, Sweets and Jaws (1982); Hey Lock! (1983).

—Lewis Porter