Dr. Joshua Davis

Bassist
Joshua leads the improvisation ensemble Squashua and accompanies the Tim Miller Trio, VOCE, the Vardan Ovsepian Quintet, and others. Recent recorded releases include Tim Miller’s Trio and Vardan Ovsepian’s Akunc, on Fresh Sound Records. Joshua’s feature recording as an arranger, Squashua, showcases Take Toriyama, Tim Miller, and Vardan Ovsepian interpreting Romantic Era symphonies and the music of Sting. Current creative projects meld symphonic technique and literature with improvised form and interpretation.

His early jazz performance career included numerous overseas tours with the Artie Shaw Band and The Ritz. He was active as an orchestral bassist in the 1990s and has been principal bassist with The Granite Symphony and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra.

Educator
Dr. Davis joined the faculty as the Director of Jazz Studies at Susquehanna University (http://susqu.edu/) in August of 2006. He was a full-time faculty member and the Director of Jazz Studies at Towson University between 2002 and 2006. Before Towson, he was an awarded leader of curriculum development at Berklee College of Music where, as one of the youngest faculty members, he taught for six years. Joshua has also been on the faculty at the University of Maine at Augusta.

He has taught numerous performance skills clinics at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Koyo Conservatory in Kobe, Japan, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, and various schools of all grades throughout the United States. Elementary and secondary school student and educator presentations available include ensemble coaching, both big bands and small contemporary ensembles, and general music presentations on listening and performance appreciation.

Composition
Joshua’s compositions include chamber music, -jazz and contemporary classical, works for big band, and a recent piece for wind symphony with improvisers.

Education
Joshua has a B.A. in Theory/Composition from U.N.H., an M.M. in Orchestral Double Bass from New England Conservatory, and a Composition D.M.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park. He has studied privately with John Hunter, Larry Veal, Neil Sir, Donald Palma, and Dr. Thomas DeLio.