Whadeva (Live at Dangerous Art Studios, New Orleans, LA, 2/13/2020)

Happy to announce the official release today, 07/24/2020, of "Whadeva" by Damani Butler, Maude Caillat and Billie Davies.

Available on BandCamp: https://billiedavies.bandcamp.com/album/whadeva

Available at Billie Davies Music: https://billie42.wixsite.com/billiedavies

View and listen on YouTube!

"Whadeva", an album with Damani Butler, Maude Caillat, Billie Davies and produced by Billie & Mike Davies, release date set for July 24, 2020.

"Whadeva"

It had not reached New Orleans yet, or so they thought.

They had been prepping these recordings since late December, early January. Damani Butler contacted Billie Davies and Maude Caillat asking them whether they would be interested in doing a project with him. He also mentioned he had contacted female artists for this project. Both Billie Davies, an american drummer from California, and Maude Caillat, a sax player from Switzerland, were currently working and residing in New Orleans. Damani had rented a house in the Lower Ninth Ward, which became Dangerous Art Studios, and was busy transforming it into the whole house and whatever sounds in it, showed in it and whomever entered it, being part of a work of art he was creating.

The project would be experimental, completely improvisational audio art. Intuitive, instinctive in nature Damani would be doing his electronic loops, beats and waves while Caillat and Davies played whatever they played. Billie decided to use her electronic drumset and Maude would bring her sax and flute to the project. Mike Davies would be recording the project, and be responsible for mixing and mastering the music that was recorded live on 02/13/2020 for a later unedited release of what was played that evening.

This was definitely so very much a Billie Davies project, always wanting to create, no preconceived ideas for the music, no notes written, no words written, no concept conceived but what you’re surrounded by, play what you feel at this moment, express your feelings as the now keeps moving forward in the now, whatever happens, a direct connection from the brain to the sound, whatever comes up, whatever makes you move in whatever direction.

Damani Butler was in his room, surrounded by a hundred pieces of all kinds of audio equipment, from keyboards to synthesizers, to percussion, to whatever. Maude Caillat was in her room, with her woodwinds and a microphone to record it surrounded by several pieces of Damani’s electronic art. Billie Davies was in her room, her electronic drums that can produce what she calls whatever a drum or percussion sound with sometimes even an organ or bass or guitar sound, and a light show for the mood. All the rooms throughout the house had serious wattage stereo speakers so everyone would hear what everyone else played and wherever the people that attended the recording were they could hear all of it come through speakers. Several people showed up, gathering in the kitchen where there was wine, beer, whiskey and coffee and whatever they brought.

All the music for "Whadeva" was recorded during the Coronavirus outbreak with a final recording date of February 13. It had not reached New Orleans yet, or so we thought, with mardi-gras slowly but surely going into full swing. All we knew was what we heard and read and saw, which then made me think... and we all got sick with some type of flu. A month later we were all on lockdown and now it is time to let go, to let this music go.

The project will be having different iterations, the first iteration, this current release of 6 parts being the album “ Whadeva ” and 1 single release called “ The Ninja ” has been produced by Mike Davies and Billie Davies.

A Damani Butler project. Recorded at Dangerous Art Studios on 02/13/2020 in New Orleans. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Mike Davies at Cobra Basement. Produced by Mike and Billie Davies at Cobra Basement. Copyright 2020, Dangerous Art Studios, Cobra Basement, Damani Butler, Maude Caillat, Billie Davies, Mike Davies.
The Musicians

Damani Butler Electronics, loops, beats, waves.

Damani is an experimental, multi/mixed media artist, lyricist and music producer from Oakland, California now living in New Orleans, Louisiana, specializing in interactive audio, visual and physical object art with a focus on up-cycled electronics and unique furniture. He has spent the last 25 + years informally training and educating himself in all areas of creative and technical interest, developing and evolving his skill-set by way of volunteering for skilled professionals in exchange for knowledge and guidance, watching instructional videos, attending workshops and training programs, reading and studying books, manuals, instructions and other literature on all subjects relative, watching and asking questions as well as good, old fashioned DIY practice, trial and error. He has independently completed a library of works in the fields of art, experimental music and lyricism often combining the three as he feels.

His accomplishments include audio productions in the genres of underground hip hop, experimental electronic music, audio art, sound experimentation projects and even coining and naming his own genre, "Crack Rock". Short and medium length video productions in the categories of music video, installation and project documentation/presentation, video art and he’s presently working on a documentary called "Adventures in Art and Music"

Maude Caillat Woodwinds, alto sax, flute

Maude Caillat grew up in Switzerland where her dad taught her to read music and play wood flute transmitting his passion for music to her when she was 5 years old. At 18, the call for different sonorities and rhythms became so strong that she decided to take a backpack and her saxophone in the direction of Senegal. After 6 years living in Dakar she developed a special sensibility and true love for traditional Senegalese and Mandingo music playing with pretty much everybody in town. In 2010 Maude was part of the band who won the RFI award for the best emerging African band. After a 3 month tour around Africa, Maude, her backpack and her saxophone ended up in Paris. While playing and recording there with several African musicians based in France, it's with Tarace Boulba, a gigantic funk and Gogo brass band touring all around Europe and the USA, that Maude discovered the music and the culture from New Orleans. After 6 years in France, once again the call of the “riddim” became too strong and she decided to take a plane to Louisiana. In New Orleans, Maude formed 2 bands, The Afrodiziac's Jazz (Ethiopian Jazz ) and SingleMaltPlease (hip hop jazz). She had the chance to collaborate with a lot of extremely talented local musicians and even played 2 times at the Jazz Fest with Seguenon Kone, a master percussionist and choreographer from the Ivory Coast. Through the years she discovered a huge interest in playing free jazz, experimental and improvisational music, an interest which grew more and more and brought her to meet Billie Davies who's the perfect "partner in crime" with her magic influences and rhythms to make it sound whatever... Whadeva ...

Billie Davies Electronic drums

Billie Davies is an American, self-taught, natural, drummer and composer best known for her free, instinctively avant-garde compositions since the mid nineties, and her improvisational drumming techniques she has performed in Europe and in the US. All of her music is improvisational ... a conversation between musicians and musical instruments, a joint emotional expression inspired by a certain feeling, thought or perspective that is being communicated to an audience, a listener, a community.

Billie Davies was born in Brugge, Belgium. She played and performed all over Europe until immigrating to the United States at 32 and becoming a US citizen while living in California. While living and playing in the South of France, in Perpignan, Montpellier, Toulouse and Biarritz, in the early 1980's, Billie received a talent grant from Max Roach to study at Berklee College of Music. While living in Hollywood on the infamous Hollywood Boulevard in 2013, Billie Davies received the "Jazz Artist of the Year" Award by the 23rd Annual Los Angeles Music Awards. In March of 2014, after 25 years in California where she released 2 albums, in 2012 “ all about Love. ” and in 2013 “ 12 VOLT ”, she moved to New Orleans where she has graced stages ever since and in 2015 she released “ Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon ”, after a while she formed a solid foundation line-up with Evan Oberla and Oliver Watkinson and released 2 albums with them, in 2016 “ On Hollywood Boulevard ” and in 2018 “ Perspectives II ”. She received more attention due to a player feature in Downbeat Magazine May 2016 edition, "BILLIE DAVIES '20 Years Stronger'". " On Hollywood Boulevard ", the album she released on 12/10/2016, became a January 2017 Editor's Pick on DownBeat.com. December 2017 Billie Davies was nominated for "Best Contemporary Jazz Artist" in New Orleans by 2017 Best Of The Beat Awards. December 2019 Billie Davies was nominated "Best Drummer" in New Orleans by 2019 Best Of The Beat Awards.

Damani Butler, Maude Caillat, Billie Davies

By Billie Davies PR

06/17/2020

#dangerousartstudios #cobrabasement #damanibutler #maudecaillat #billiedavies #mikedavies #neworleans #newmusic #newmusicalert #whadeva

BillieDavies.com, a new face, a new interface.

The new official website for Billie Davies has been completed.
It has a new face and a new interface that is more mobile friendly ... Her bio has been updated to current and it has a nice gallery that shows photos, full length videos of performances and random photos of Billie Davies and her line-ups... 
You can now also get downloads of her albums direct from the artist and you can listen to her music right there.
We will soon be adding previews of new material for a new project by Damani Butler that is in the works. It has Billie Davies on electronic drums, Maude Caillat on tenor sax and Damani Butler on electronics and digital sounds and it may have other guest artists. It looks like it will be performed a first time on Feb. 13, 2020, by invite only.
As we have opted for a Wix free site there are two ways to get there:
http://www.billiedavies.com or https://billie42.wixsite.com/billiedavies

billie davies official site

SOUND II (Davies, Masakowski, Balgochian) Live at Sidebar Nola

SOUND
A meeting of minds.
Set 2
Billie Davies - drums
Steve Masakowski - guitar
Abbey Balgochian - bass

Live at Sidebar Nola in New Orleans
October 5, 2019
serious sound sculpture... consider yourself early-warned....Buckle Up!
Sound and video recorded by Mike Davies on Zoom Q8.

SOUND I (Davies, Masakowski, Balgochian) Live at Sidebar Nola

SOUND A meeting of minds. Set 1 Billie Davies - drums Steve Masakowski - guitar Abbey Balgochian - bass Live at Sidebar Nola in New Orleans October 5, 2019 serious sound sculpture... consider yourself early-warned....Buckle Up! Sound and video recorded by Mike Davies on Zoom Q8.

Billie Davies, Steve Masakowski, Albey Balgochian
SOUND

Sidebar Nola
Saturday, Oct 5, 2019

Billie Davies Trio (Davies, Oberla, Watkinson) with Steve Masakowski at SideBar Nola, March 29, 2019 at 9 PM.

Billie Davies Trio (Davies, Oberla, Watkinson) with Steve Masakowski at SideBar Nola, March 29, 2019 at 9 PM.

Billie Davies Trio (Davies, Oberla, Watkinson) will be playing with Steve Masakowski at SideBar NOLA in New Orleans on Friday March 29, 2019 at 9PM.

Energies coming together to create something that has never been created before and will never be created again. 

A spontaneous expression, a harmony achieved that speaks for the existence of a universal energy that moves us all, no matter what perspective.

Billie Davies is an American jazz drummer and composer best known for her free and avant-garde jazz compositions since the mid-1990s, and her improvisational drumming techniques. She is a very accomplished free-jazz drummer. Born in Belgium, she now lives in New Orleans, having spent much of her life living peripatetically. The music of Billie Davies Trio and her other line-ups, moves on from the Jazz and Avant-garde world beyond Jazz with it's own very unique and truly improvisational jam style reminding us sometimes of, as Jerome Wilson put it on AAJ, the spiritual jazz tradition, as exemplified by John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders. Billie Davies' work reminds you of many different things but in the end, it is its own original beast, as powerful as anything more well-known musicians have created. She has released five CD’s, of which three in New Orleans, she has been awarded “Best Jazz Artist” in Los Angeles in 2013 and was nominated “Best Contemporary Jazz Artist” in New Orleans in 2017.

Steve Masakowski has long been regarded as one of the finest jazz guitarists from New Orleans. His experience as a recording artist and jazz soloist is extensive.

His music has been featured in major publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Downbeat, Jazz Times, and many others. In addition, Masakowski was honored by National Public Radio with a feature biography which aired nationally on the Morning Edition radio program. Born and raised in New Orleans, Steve Masakowski has played guitar with most of the city’s greatest musicians including Alvin “Red” Tyler, Ellis Marsalis, Danny Barker, Earl Turbinton, and James Black. He has also performed with Grammy Award-winning artists Bobby McFerrin, Nicholas Payton, Allen Toussaint, Dianne Reeves and others at major festivals around the world. As a recording artist, he has released numerous CDs including two on the prestigious Blue Note Records label. He has been an active member of, and composer for the award winning New Orleans jazz group, Astral Project.

Evan Oberla - Piano/Keys/Synth & Trombone. “Music never stops, it only begins. All the music that ever was exists now. It is the musician's job to tune into the universe and become a vessel for the music of the moment.” Evan Oberla 

Evan was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, playing piano and guitar at an early age. In 5th grade he picked up the trombone for the school band. In high school his musicality led him to participate in multiple jazz ensembles, including the acclaimed Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra. Evan graduated in June 2009 from Ohio State University with a degree in Jazz Studies performance. A diverse and active musician based out of New Orleans, LA, he can be found with acts such as EO & The Tasty Sapiens, Brass Lightning, Sexual Thunder, Allie Porter Band, Billie Davies, Miss Mojo, Mike Dillon & more. Evan has toured nationally with O.A.R., Allen Stone, and Elle King.

Oliver Watkinson - & Upright Bass. Born in Brunswick Maine, Oliver began studying music at the age of five. He attended college in Boston at the New England Conservatory, where he had the opportunity to study upright jazz bass and perform with greats such as Lee Konitz, Dave Holland, Jason Moran, Cecil McBee, and many more. In 2014, Oliver moved to New Orleans and began performing with Billie Davies in 2015, Gandhi Castle, Laelume, and various street bands. He has taught and performed all over the United States, as well as Central America and Canada.

#billiedavies #billiedaviestrio #stevemasakowski, #evanoberla, #oliverwatkinson, #sidebarnola, #neworleans, #usa

Call out to EXPERIENCED, CREATIVE, IMPROVISATIONAL Free Improvisation Cats

Billie Davies Trio is calling out to EXPERIENCED, CREATIVE, FREE IMPROVISATIONAL Jazz Cats in New Orleans

All of Billie Davies music is improvisational... a conversation between musicians and musical instruments, a joint emotional expression inspired by a certain common feeling, thought or perspective that is being communicated to an audience, a listener, a community.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOOKING FOR EXPERIENCED, IMPROVISATIONAL CATS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whether you consider yourself advanced or expert... you need to love and have a yearning for interacting and growing with the same musicians continuously for an indefinite amount of time of playing, recording, gigging ...

INFLUENCES
All of her music is improvisational... a conversation between musicians and musical instruments, a joint emotional expression inspired by a certain common feeling, thought or perspective that is being communicated to an audience, a listener, a community.
Most of her influences stem from Classical, Gypsy, Manouche, Blues, Jazz, Free Jazz, Avant-jazz, Avant-garde, Soul and Funk.
Major influences: Jack De Johnette, Billy Higgins, Billy Hart, Al Foster, Ed Thigpen, Billy Cobham... Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Important influences: Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams... Music produced under The ECM label in the 70's/80's with artists such as Dollar Brand,Abdulah Ibrahim, Jan Garbarek, John Abercrombie, Terje Rypdal, Charles Lloyd became an important influence and her inspirations have been influenced by Carla Bley, Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Chopin, Ravel, Serge Vandercam, Matisse, Manitas de Plata, Irene Papas, Vangelis, Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Trilok Gurtu, Klaus Schulze, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, Mozart, Bach, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mussorgsky, Christian Dotremont, the CoBrA movement, Bram Bogart, Hugo Claus, Gaudi, Braque, Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Miro, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and so many more... and ~~~ Universal Energy ~~~.

“LOUD AND CLEAR
What Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins accomplished in “The Shape of Jazz to Come” was not in vain, I heard it!!!... What Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor left us was not in vain, I heard it!!!...

LOUD AND CLEAR

It was their roots, It is my roots, answering, calling, and continuing the Mission of the evolution of Fine ART in JAZZ, in MUSIC, of liberating the notes to be free and the sounds to be re-invented, re-explored, so that others will hear and see and feel the ROOTS.
So that others may IDENTIFY with it. As I Do.
So that this extremely FREE, Heart Beating, Soul Searching, Mind Bending form of FINE ART through the medium of MUSIC... be still here
after I am gone...
UNCONSTRAINED by color, race, gender, dogma, politics, fashion and trends and money.

LOUD AND CLEAR” (Billie Davies)

Free jazz is an approach to jazz that developed in the 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting. They became preoccupied with creating something new. Free jazz has often been combined with or substituted for the term "avant-garde jazz". Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music".

The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazz big bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward looking, it draws on early styles of jazz and has been described as an attempt to return to primitive, often religious, roots. Although jazz is an American invention, free jazz musicians drew heavily from world music and ethnic music traditions from around the world. Sometimes they played foreign instruments, unusual instruments, or invented their own. They emphasized emotional intensity and sound for its own sake. (Wikipedia)

Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which improvisation may take place. This structure may be composed note for note in advance, partially or even completely. The origins of avant-garde jazz are in the innovations of the immediate stylistic successors of Charlie Parker. Musicians such as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane introduced modal improvisation and experimented with atonality and dissonance. Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, and Ornette Coleman became controversial jazz innovators. (Wikipedia)