The Florida-based jazz duo Davis & Dow relishes the opportunity to bring old-time jazz to a new audience — say, younger people who may have never even heard of Ella Fitzgerald.
When vocalist Julie Davis and her husband, guitarist Kelly Dow, perform at Albert Taylor Hall next Friday at 7:30 p.m., they’ll have a chance to give some listeners a jazz education with their “Great Jazz Divas” program. The duo will pay tribute to a slew of revered female jazz singers, including Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holliday and Nina Simone.
“They’re very important historical figures for the art world, and especially for America’s contribution to the art world,” Dow said. “I look at jazz as America’s classical music. And the further we get away from it — like, I love doing the colleges. Because a lot of the college kids, I mean, they don’t know who any of these singers are.
“And I think it’s very important as part of American history to really keep this music alive and get new jazz fans.”
Davis & Dow have been performing together for about 15 years and have been married since 1997. They’re working on a new album now with the swing group Hot House; Davis & Dow’s last album, Naked, was released in 2001.
Davis said the female singers who will be covered in the show are idols of hers. The group’s Web site, davisanddow.com, features audio files of some of the duo’s recordings, including versions of Fitzgerald’s “Black Coffee” and Simone’s “Sugar in My Bowl.”
“It’s interpretation, not where I’m copying them or mimicking them,” Davis said. “It’s a tribute to their life and their music, and some of the original songs that they have written that may not be as popular, and some of the ones that are popular and were mainstream.”
Davis said the duo’s stage show was formed as a sort of live version of the National Public Radio show “Jazz Profiles.”
“We have elegant black and white slides fading from one picture to the next on the particular singer we’re covering,” she said. “And I’ll talk a little bit about a singer, or do an original poem that I wrote about Ella Fitzgerald, do a song. And then you’ll hear Duke Ellington talk a little bit about her voice. And it’s just kind of an eloquent tribute that just flows from one little media thing to the next.”
Davis & Dow will perform as part of the Emporia Arts Council’s 2007-08 season lineup.