Benjamin Lazar Davis
Eclectic Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and producer Benjamin Lazar Davis has made his name as a valued collaborator as well as a skilled solo artist. With a talent for indie rock, pop, and folk sounds, Davis has created trippy but engaging music with Cuddle Magic and Okkervil River, and he's contributed to recordings by Kimbra, Lady Lamb, and Anna & Elizabeth, to name a few. He is also passionate about African music, and has used his knowledge in all its forms to record projects in tandem with Joan as Police Woman and Bridget Kearney. With his solo debut, 2018's Nothing Matters, Davis assembled his various influences into a personal statement recorded in the home where he grew up. His second solo album, 2021's Benjamin Lazar Davis, though collaborative, was a spacious one with an intentional focus on melody.
Benjamin Lazar Davis was born in 1986 in New York, New York. His father, Peter Davis, was a professional musician whose resumé included stints with Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and a latter-day version of the Mamas & the Papas. He also spent several years studying music in Africa, a passion he would pass along to his son. Benjamin would decide to launch a musical career of his own, and he was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music when he co-founded the group Cuddle Magic in 2006. Performing a unique brand of experimental folk-pop, Cuddle Magic released their self-titled debut album in 2008. Davis cut four more albums with the group, including a collaborative album with Phyllis Chen.
In 2009, Davis took a break from Cuddle Magic and traveled to West Africa to study music; he fell in love with percussion-based music and the Ghanaian musical style known as Bawa. In 2014, Davis returned to Africa with Bridget Kearney, a fellow member of Cuddle Magic who also played bass in Lake Street Dive, and together they recorded an EP steeped in the sounds of Ghana, BAWA, that was released in 2015. The following year, Davis teamed with Joan as Police Woman's Joan Wassner to cut an album informed by African music, Let It Be You. That same year, he would join the indie folk group Okkervil River, appearing on their albums Away (2016) and In the Rainbow Rain (2018).
Taking some time off from his many projects, Davis decided to spend some time with his family and ended up recording an album in his childhood bedroom, a low-key psychedelic effort called Nothing Matters. Released in 2018, it was his first proper solo album. In 2019, Davis and Bridget Kearney reunited to record another album in Africa, 2020's Still Flying. A year later, his eponymously titled second solo LP also included contributions from Kearney, as well as Wassner, Alex Toth (Rubblebucket, Tōth), Mitchell Yoshida (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros), and others. Intentionally emphasizing melody and employing fewer drums, he co-produced Benjamin Lazar Davis with Luke Moellman (Great Good Fine Ok) and Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist).
© Mark Deming /TiVo
-
Let It Be You
Joan As Police Woman, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 07.06.2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei 11A Records am 19.11.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Still Flying
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Verve Forecast am 08.05.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Bet You're Fucking EP
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei 11A Records am 02.04.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nothing Matters
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei BLD Records am 28.09.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Choosing Sides
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei BLD Records am 13.04.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Need To Reply
Benjamin Lazar Davis, Monica Martin, Meg Duffy
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei BLD Records am 12.01.2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Broke Me in Two
Joan As Police Woman, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 29.12.2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Love Song Seven Ways
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei BLD Records am 26.01.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 19.11.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Voice of Reason
BB Wisely, Benjamin Lazar Davis, Will Graefe, Bridget Kearney
Pop - Erschienen bei BB Wisely am 14.07.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Right Time
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Verve Forecast am 10.12.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Snow Angels
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei 11A Records am 03.11.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Still Flying
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Verve Forecast am 10.04.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Bet You're Fucking
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 02.04.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Bet You're Fucking
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei 11A Records am 24.02.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Endings/Beginnings
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Verve Forecast am 10.03.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bawa
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Country - Erschienen bei Signature Sounds Recordings am 18.09.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Still Flying
Bridget Kearney, Benjamin Lazar Davis
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Verve Forecast am 08.05.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Bet You're Fucking
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 24.02.2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
What If I?
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei Reveal Records am 01.12.2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo