BEN DAVIS

Ben Davis has been concentrating on fusing his classical, jazz and contemporary music experiences into a raw vehicle of acoustic expression. He started improvising while playing for dancers in Earthfall Dance UK, then following gigs with Evan Parker, Louis Moholo, Vincent Courtois and Wadada Leo Smith, Ben developed a freer approach to improv which he utilized while playing and recording with Ingrid Laubrock, Simon Nabatov and Bobby McFerrin. His own group Basquiat Strings collaborated with Ellery Eskerlin in the BBC Electric Proms and was nominated for the Mercury Music Awards 2007, during which time he was a member of the London based collective F-IRE and subsequently collaborated individually with many of its artists. More recently Ben has been playing with Tomeka Reid, Mary Halverson, Ben Goldberg, Jim Campilongo, Chris Brown, Zeena Parkins, Gerald Cleaver, William Winant and was involved in the Mills College festival "In The Fault Zone" with Roscoe Mitchell and Nicole Mitchell where he also performed "Quiver", a solo cello piece by Raven Chacon.