Dennis Davis, who played on six David Bowie albums from ‘Young Americans’ to ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) has died following a battle with cancer.
Bowie producer Tony Visconti announced the news on his Facebook page saying:
“Dennis Davis has passed away. He was one of the most creative drummers I have ever worked with. He came into David Bowie’s life when we recorded some extra tracks for Young Americans and stayed with us through Scary Monsters and beyond. He was a disciplined jazz drummer who tore into Rock with a Jazz sensibility. Listen to the drum breaks on Black Out from the Heroes album. He had a conga drum as part of his set up and he made it sound like two musicians were playing drums and congas. By Scary Monsters he was playing parts that were unthinkable but they fit in so perfectly. His sense of humor was wonderful. As an ex member of the US Air Force he told us stories of seeing a crashed UFO first hand by accidentally walking through an unauthorized hanger. There will never be another drummer, human being and friend like Dennis, a magical man”.
Davis played with Bowie on ‘Young Americans’, ‘Station To Station’, ‘Low’, ‘Heroes’, Lodger’ and Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps’. He was also the drummer boy on the David Bowie and Bing Crosby collaboration ‘Little Drummer Boy’.
Other Davis recordings include Stevie Wonder ‘Hotter Than July’ including the classic ‘Master Blaster’, Iggy Pop’s ‘The Idiot’, Jermaine Jackson’s ‘Let’s Get Serious’, George Benson’s ‘Good King Bad’ and various albums for Roy Ayers between 1973 and 2004.
Dennis Davis has passed away. He was one of the most creative drummers I have ever worked with. He came into David…
Posted by Tony Visconti on Thursday, 7 April 2016
Brian Eno also tweeted news of the death of Davis:
RIP Dennis Davis, David Bowie's drummer on Station To Station, Low, "Heroes", Lodger + more https://t.co/DQYEekwnXR pic.twitter.com/Oifp0UdvKw
— Brian Eno (@dark_shark) April 7, 2016
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