As a returning favorite for Black History Month, The Davis Family Band played soulful renditions of jazz, classic R&B, and pop, from the ‘50s on, at the MATC Oak Creek campus on Feb. 11. They also will play at the other MATC campuses this month as well. There was free food and drink for this event.
In 1988, this five-member family left the comfort of their living room where they played music for family and friends, and went public. The band features the mother, Ollie Davis (vocals, keys); the father, Greg Davis (guitar, vocals); and their three sons; Andre’(bass guitar, vocals), Aaron (keys, trumpet, vocals) and Artemas (sax, drums, vocals).
The Davis Family Band has become one of the hottest and most requested bands in the Midwest. Opening for such noted artists as Chaka Kahn, The Commodores, Morris Day and The Time, Isaac Hayes, and Cameo. The Davis Family Band has been nominated several times by Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) as one of the best in Contemporary Jazz and R&B.
The Davis Family has an exciting, energetic stage show. The audience was pleasantly entertained during the performance. One of the audience members, Mai McCarthy, of MATC’s Education program, stated, “It was beautiful especially celebrating Black History Month. It was a really good idea to bring music, because music has no cultural bounds, and there was different races and different cultures in there. It was beautiful, wonderful, I really enjoyed it.”
Carrie Hein-Paredes, ESL instructor, said, “The class is learning about Black History Month today. The students are made up of many cultures and countries. For many of them this is their first time celebrating, experiencing Black History Month. So after listening and participating in the activity, for homework tonight, they will write a summary of their experience and reflect on what they learned.” I asked a couple of students in the ESL program how they liked the band. Ali Fartoosi stated, “The music is perfect.” Maria Bilal added, “We had a lot of fun.”