Joseph Davis

Joseph Davis grew up in Nashville, where he began studying trumpet in elementary school. He continued his studies at Tennessee State University, where he was taught by noted musicians W.O. Smith, Louis Smith, Brenton Banks, and others. It was also during his time at Tennessee State that Davis first heard James Brown's Live at the Apollo (1963), an album so powerful it helped the trumpeter decide to become a performing musician. He played locally and did some touring with Jackie Wilson, Johnnie Taylor, B.B. King, and others, but his dream came true in 1968 when he joined James ...