Award Winning, Belgium Born Jazz Drummer Leaves Career in California for a Career in New Orleans!

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Award Winning, Belgium Born Jazz Drummer Leaves Career in California for a Career in New Orleans!

Billie Davies (born Billie Goegebeur, December 10, 1955 in Bruges) is an American female jazz drummer and composer best known for her Avant-garde jazz compositions, as well as her improvisational drumming techniques which she has performed in Europe and in the US since the mid-nineties.

Billie and her, recording/producer husband, Mike, moved to New Orleans this last March to achieve her dream of being a New Orleans based musician.  She has been working with local, like-minded sidemen, Shan Kenner on guitar and Pete Olynciw on upright bass to form her New Orleans Ensemble.  They have created a suite of new music entitled Downman Road.

Her 2012 release of “all about Love” solidified her position as a professional jazz musician.  This recording of standards and original music, charted #1 in CMJ Jazz College Radio Charts for ‘top jazz add’ in new albums and went on to stay there for 4 weeks.  “all about Love” was also very well received in Canada where the album ended up in the Top 10 on three different! Earshot Jazz charts.

In October, 2013 Billie released “12 VOLT” which also garnered national and international attention. CJ Bond, JAZZ MUSIC (an online jazz journal), wrote the following… “12 VOLT” features exclusively original compositions of Billie Davies, revealing yet another formidable creative talent in Davies' impressive artistic arsenal; making this an important CD for Davies, since it adds the crucial tyne of 'composer/arranger' to her sterling artistic fork, augmenting fearless innovation, and superlative drumming technique as well. 

In September of 2013, Billie Davies was nominated for the top Jazz Artist award from the 23^rd Annual Los Angeles Music Awards; she received the award on November 14.  Five months later she moved to New Orleans and is now ready to present her show to the New Orleans audience.

Her guitar player on “12 VOLT,” Daniel Goffeng, describes Billie as …bringing something radically new to the idiom of modern jazz in various ways which, in its purest essence, incorporates everything in its collective subconscious amalgam that has come before. Billie Davies' music is unapologetically moving in the direction of “true art” and plays with colors, moods, movements, feelings and interactions, a paradoxically more advanced concept of expression...

S. Victor Aaron tells us that "Davies is not countering the modern jazz movement so much but rather stripping it down to its essence. When listening to Davies play, it’s easier to think of her not as a drummer but a tonal painter who swipes brushstrokes with her drumsticks."

l-r: Gary Washington- bass, Billie Davies- drums, Shan Kenner- guitar.

We are looking for any and all opportunities to help promote her New Orleans debut and to officially introduce her to New Orleans’ music scene. 

For more information about Billie Davies, her music, and more reviews, please check her out by   following this link for Billie Davies Website.  To schedule appointments for interviews, please contact Glinda Mantle at 504-453-5533 or via email at glinda.mantle@gmail.com. 

Thank you.

"all about Love" by The Billie Davies Trio reviewed on JazzTimes

10/16/12    Albums    By Geannine Reid

Billie Davies Trio, All About Love

All About Love

The term slow burn has been used to describe sensuality in music for decades. Billie Davies Trio is just that, a slow burn of improvisational ideas, coupled with complex rhythms and harmonic colors. Female Drummer Billie Davies, who originally hails from Belgium is at the helm, leading her trio through a well-balanced program of standards re-arranged and originals that complement each other in the context of this recording with ease. The main theme throughout is spaciousness, it permeates the overall concept of the album. Take the opening track “Stella by Starlight” a well-known standard that has been well-documented, but when in the hands of this apt trio it becomes like a firework show that bursts with originality. Trombonist Tom Bone Rails adds a clear yet inviting tone that cuts through nicely, yet adds a sense of warmth at the same time. Bassist Oliver Steinberg has a more mid-range tone that is effective in this setting, not overpowering the ‘slow burn,’ his ability to lay down a solid canvas while creating figures of interest, again further adds to the interest of the interaction and chemistry.

Originals such as “Green Cheese” add a depth of Avant to the proceedings, while “BUrst” is just that, an eruption of 32 seconds of pure energy. “High Noon” another wonderful original is driven by Davies nimble musings and scurrying rhythms, juxtaposed against Rails and Steinberg’s free improvising figures, all adding up to a comfortable, yet intriguing listen. This is not for the casual listener who lives in the swing zone – All About Love is just that, a true love story of the improvisation of jazz and its innate nature to stretch, pull and push the boundaries. The Billie Davies trio truly shows its devotion to the jazz idiom with this wonderful debut of creative modern borderline Avant-garde offering – truly a delight on many levels and I hope not the last from the Billie Davies Trio.

http://jazztimes.com/community/articles/58291-billie-davies-trio-all-about-love

Billie Davies Trio Enjoy Their 3rd Week on the CMJ Top 40 Jazz Chart at #14.

Billie Davies Trio Enjoy Their 3rd Week on the CMJ Top 40 Jazz Chart

Peaking at #14 So Far