Several years ago, I was reading an article about American saxophonist and educator Nathan Davis (now Professor Emeritus, U Pittsburgh), and a new album of his that was about to be released at the time. The article led me to Davis’s website. From his website and other sources I learned
that Davis not only lived in Paris for most of the 1960s and played music with
many other musicians there, but he was also
co-founder of the Paris Reunion Band.
In 1984, Nathan Davis co-founded the Paris Reunion band with
British writer, historian and producer Mike Hennessey, who originally came up
with the idea. The two men co-founded the
band with the assistance of legendary African American drummer Kenny Clarke,
who at that time had lived and worked in Paris for nearly 30
years.
After Kenny Clarke’s sudden death in 1985, the Paris
Reunion Band continued to perform and record around the world as a tribute to
Clarke and the jazz scene that flourished in Paris in the 1950s and ‘60s. The Paris Reunion Band--what a tribute to a beloved musician who moved from the United States to Paris when he was 42 years-old and never looked back. In fact, a quote expressing his love of Paris appears on the Fabulous Quotes about Paris page of this blog. Take a moment and check it out.
