Anthony Davis is an African-American composer and pianist from Paterson, United States. He works across avant-garde jazz, classical, contemporary classical, jazz, opera and third stream, and he is also associated with the Episteme Music label.

Career

Davis is known as a jazz pianist and composer who also studies gamelan music. His work draws on jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, non-Western music, African and European classical traditions, Indonesian music and experimental music. He is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and has received recognition as a free-jazz pianist and as a co-leader or sideman in a range of ensembles.

He plays with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quintet, David Murray Quintet, Bobby Previte’s Weather Clear, Track Fast, and Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet. He also performs with ensembles led by Smith, including groups active from 1974 to 1977, and has played with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith.

Composition and teaching

Davis composes opera and other stage music. He writes the opera X, about Malcolm X, and also writes the incidental music for the Broadway version of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. His opera Wakonda's Dream tells the story of a contemporary Native American family and the history surrounding them. He also creates Lilith, with a libretto by Allan Havis, set in a modern era and based on Adam's first wife.

He teaches music at the University of California San Diego and has also taught at Yale University.