| Whether Guy Davis is appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s, “A Prairie Home Campanion”, “Mountain Stage” or David Dye’s,“World Café,” in front of 15,000 people on the Main Stage of a major festival, or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a Music Camp, Guy feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his ‘all’.His ‘all’ is the Blues.
His influences are as varied as the days. Musically, he enjoyed such great blues musicians as Blind Willie McTell (and his way of story telling), Skip James, Manse Lipscomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, and Buddy Guy, among others. It was through Taj Mahal that he found his way to the old time blues. He also loved such diverse musicians as Fats Waller and Harry Belafonte.
Throughout his life, Davis has had overlapping interests in music and acting. Early acting roles included a lead role in the film “Beat Street” opposite Rae Dawn Chong and on television as ‘Dr. Josh Hall’ on “One Life to Live”. He made his Broadway musical debut in 1991 in the Zora Neale Hurston/Langston Hughes collaboration “Mulebone”, which featured the music of Taj Mahal. In 1993 he performed Off-Broadway as legendary blues player Robert Johnson in “Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil”. Davis also performed with his parents, the late actors/writers Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, in “Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy”, staged at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ in the spring of 1995.
Opening the show will be vocalist Wendy Martin. From studying music at the University of New Orleans to performing with her band in New York City, music has always been in Wendy’s life. Her first record purchase was “The Real…Billie Holiday” which ultimately let her to study jazz vocals in New Orleans. Her 12 years down south included jazz vocal performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a starring role in a musical at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, and leading her own band at the world-famous Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro. She eventually made her way to New York City and continued performing and songwriting, including sold out shows at the Blue Note Jazz Club and performing with her rock band “Aunt Slammie.”
Tickets for this show are $24 in advance and $30 at the door. Doors open at 7PM. Refreshments are available at the show, including beer and wine. |
