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Richard Davis was an American jazz bassist and composer born on April 15, 1930, in Chicago, IL, USA. He began his journey with the bass at the age of 15 and received his music education at DuSable High School and VanderCook College of Music. In 1954, he moved to New York, where he worked with Sarah Vaughan from 1957 to 1962. Over his career, he appeared on over 600 albums, collaborating with notable artists such as Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Tony Williams, and Booker Ervin, as well as Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, and Bonnie Raitt. His debut as a leader came in 1967 with the album "Heavy Sounds," co-led by Elvin Jones. Davis was a member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra from 1966 to 1972 and participated in the New York Bass Violin Choir in the late 1960s and '70s. In the late 1980s, he founded the trio New York Unit. His contributions to music were recognized when he received a Jazz Master award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2014. In 1977, he left New York to teach music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position he held until his retirement in 2016. He established the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists in 1993 and the Madison chapter of the Center for the

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