Favorite Quote
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
Sea Glass Video – Out on all DSPs 5/20/22
Sea Glass Teaser – Out on all DSPs 5/20/22
Curtsy to the Moon OUT NOW on Modern Classical X
Winter Curtain on Blue Spiral Records
New Spotify Playlist – Guitar Music
Jardin Bleu Commission for the North Forkestra
Completed an arrangement of Jardin Bleu for the North Forkestra, a community music ensemble based out of Paonia in the North Fork Valley Colorado. The ensemble is an odd group of instruments – 2 flutes, clarinet, trombone, 2 violins, and cello. It was a blast to arrange Jardin Bleu for this unique group of instruments.
Bamboo Summer Live
New Spotify Playlist – Night Music
Bamboo Summer Live Teaser
Jardin Bleu OUT NOW
Jardin Bleu OUT SEPT 3, 2021 from Art Davis Studios
Winter Curtain Out Nov. 26, 2021 on Blue Spiral Records
Blue Silk Sky EP – OUT April 2021 on Modern Classical X
Blue Silk Sky Part One – OUT April 2021 on Modern Classical X
Click Photo and Pick Your Favorite DSP
New Single and Two Track EP on Modern Classical X – Release dates set
New Single Blue Silk Sky Part One will be released on Modern Classical X on April 9, 2021.
New Two Track EP featuring Blue Silk Sky Parts 1 & 2 will be released on April 30.
Blue Silk Sky is a new composition for 4 voice cello choir performed by Clay Ruede and piano.
Watch for release announcements and teaser videos soon.
Ghost Deer Review in Radioaktiv Magazine
Ghost Deer Review in Music IT Magazine
OUT NOW on Blue Spiral Records – New EP, Ghost Deer
Quatrieme Bagatelle – from new EP – Ghost Deer out on Blue Spiral Records on 12/4/2020
NEW EP OUT 12/4/2020
EP Title: Ghost Deer
Track List (order)
Track 1: Ghost Deer
Track 2: Last Rain
Track 3: Quatrieme Bagatelle
Track 4: Night Blossom
EP Description
This EP is an exploration into mystery. I live out in the country on a few acres of land next to a pond and a small creek. Wildlife is everywhere. The EP is a set of tone poems reflecting my impressions of this environment. The EP features three piano pieces and one piece for cello choir (performed by Clay Ruede) and piano.
Ghost Deer is my attempt to capture the wonder of an amazing pale, almost white, deer that frequents my property. Last Rain is a very minimal piano piece about that moment when rain first begins to fall on the pond. I’ve always thought that is such a magical moment. Quatrieme Bagatelle for cello choir and piano is a short simple piece – a bagatelle – a trifle. Night Bloom for piano is my impression of beautiful flowers that bloom only at night. Again this EP is all about mystery.
NEW SINGLE OUT NOW!!!!
Hawk Dance – featuring Clay Ruede on cello
Stream Hawk Dance
NEW EP COMING OUT THIS FALL ON BLUE SPIRAL RECORDS
Orchid Spring included in new Spotify Playlist, Piano Solo
Bamboo Summer included in Mini Web Concert
Bamboo Summer video has been included in the Blue Spiral Records Mini Web Concert Series to raise funds for Covid 19 relief in Italy. So honored to participate.
New Studio Live Videos
Working on a new set of Modern Classical pieces
The pieces will feature a 4 voice cello choir (played by Clay Ruede) and piano. Don’t know much more about it than that at this point. Will keep you posted with a series of posts showing a bit of my compositional process.
July 2020
Got the cello STEMS back from Clay. They are amazing. He is such a fine musician. It freaks me out every time I get his tracks from him. I send score and parts and guide track and he records the parts in his home studio in NYC. The recordings are pristine and his playing is always just jaw dropping.
June 2020
Have 3 pieces composed and mock-ups recorded and the score in music notation SW, parts, and guide tracks on dropbox for the cellist to download and record the cello parts.
Finished 30-page sketch score in pencil. Next steps will be to play each part into Studio One (DAW) then export to Notion (notation SW) and then create PDF parts and score to send to a cellist in NYC
Continuing with composition process posts as I move into working directly with music materials. Sketch #1 has a title now, Blue Silk Sky. The title comes from working with the Hip Pocket Theatre – @hippockettheatre – for a long time a long long time ago. The theatre made amazing use of simple set pieces and blue silk would become the lake, the sky, a stream . . . this piece seems to be caught up in that memory. As you can see I’m still working with bits and bobs not sure where they might lead. But I went to bed last night happy. So I’m thinking I might be on to something that is going to work.
Just getting started with some very general ideas written down from the listener’s point of view describing what I think the piece is about and what it might sound like. This gives me a very general starting point which I will likely stray away from.
Began working on a new String Quartet.
I’ll be posting pictures here to show a bit about my process of composing. This is the very first scribbles of notes for the first movement.
Working on a new piano EP, Jardin Bleu
Jardin Bleu will be a five track EP with with track titles reflecting blue flowers. Gardens featuring flowers in a single color were popular in the the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. White Gardens, Yellow Gardens, and Blue Gardens featured spectacular designs and textures.
Track List
I – Iris Bleu (blue iris)
II – Lis Bleu ( blue lily)
III – Bleuet de France (blue corn flower)
IV – Delphinium Bleu (blue delphinium)
V – Pavot Bleu de l’Himalaya ( Himalayan blue poppy)
Review in Drifting Almost Falling E-Magazine
“Davis has a real sense of what he wants to convey to the listener and it doesn’t feel like an arduous listen like some piano releases can be these days and is worth checking out.”
An excerpt from the beautiful review of EP “Sumi-e Shadows” by american composer Art Davis on emagazine Drifting Almost Falling!
Read here the full review ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Drifting Almost Falling Review
Performance: Austin Philharmonic Orchestra – Collection of Trifles 2 & 3
Collection of Trifles 2 and 3 was programmed by the Austin Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their March 4, 2020 concert. I would like to thank all the members of the APO for their great work. Specifically I’d like to thank the APO conductor, David Ortel for making it happen. COT 2 is for piano and string orchestra and COT 3 is for string orchestra.
Orchid Spring included in Spotify Playlist, Fresh Discoveries – Piano by Joshua Naranjo.
Latest EP, Sumi-e Shadows on Blue Spiral Records
Sumi-e Shadows, a new 5 track EP of piano music was released last December on Blue Spiral Records. I’m very excited to be a part of the Blue Spiral Records label. They have some amazing artists and all the music is top shelf. This new work is some of my best work to date.
LINK TO DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS and Playlists
The Japanese term “sumi” means “black ink”, “e” means “painting”.
The Philosophy of Sumi-e is contrast and harmony, expressing simple beauty and elegance. Sumi-e attempts to capture the Chi or “life spirit” of the subject, painting in the language of the spirit. As in Zen practice, reality is expressed by reducing it to its pure, bare form. Sumi-e features simplicity and spontaneity that directly strike the viewers’ sensibility.
The music on this EP is an attempt to capture this concept through simple compositions for piano.
The track titles reflect The Four Gentleman, the first four subjects for students to master. They use the four basic brush stokes used in sumi-e. Each subject represents one of the four seasons.
Track List:
Sumi-e Shadows
Bamboo Summer
Chrysanthemum Fall
Plum Blossom Winter
Orchid Spring
Teaser video for Sumi-e Shadows
Sumi-e Shadows EP title track included in Ian Wong’s Spotify Playlist, Chilled Out Coffee Shop.
Sumi-e Shadows entire EP included in Peter Cavallo’s Spotify Playlist, Just Piano.
Had a track added to Holy Jones’, Bookstore Instrumentals Playlist on Spotify.
Many thanks to Joshua Naranjo @jnara22 for adding Orchid Spring to this excellent Spotify Playlist – Fresh Discovery – Piano.
Thanks to Jan Platek for adding my track Plum Blossom Winter to his Spotify playlist, Soundtrack for Dreams.
Series of Short Abstract Films
Working on a series of short abstract ambient films, Collection of Trifles. These will be released separately on my YouTube channel. Two films are already up on my YT channel check them out: Art Davis – Composer.
Art Davis Studios 