Jackie Davis

One of the earliest jazz organists, Jackie Davis emerged not long after Wild Bill Davis, around the same time as Milt Buckner and Bill Doggett. Davis was born in Jacksonville, FL, on December 13, 1920, and began playing piano around town before he was even ten. He soon joined a band and a 19-piece orchestra, and went on to study music at Florida A&M. He experimented with pipe organ, but didn't make the switch until the advent of the Hammond, which responded much more quickly to the player's hands, making it far more suitable for jazz. Early on, Davis was a follower of Wild Bil...