Davis and Dow Cd release of Loverly

On Saturday, February 21st from 9PM to 1AM come see Davis and Dow perform at

Upstairs at the Van Dyke Cafe
846 Lincoln Road (at Jefferson Ave.)
Tel: 305.534.3600
http://www.thevandykecafe.com/upstairs/UpstairsCalendar.swf

Multi award winning jazz duo DavisAndDow describe themselves as soul mates that are two strong halves of one BIG sound. They explore jazz and pop standards with a daring sense of abandon and share a style deeply rooted in the classic jazz tradition but with playfulness that keeps the music fresh and fun. “Playing music in front of a live audience is an increasingly visual medium. The artist has to interact with the audience and have them live through the music as they experience the song. The connection of the artist and audience is crucial unlike a recording where it just has to sound great. Live music requires full communication of the musical journey during each set or evening performance.” Believes Julie Davis of DavisAndDow and her husband Kelly Dow agrees with her.

It is apparent when performing, Julie will flirt Betty Boop style as she croons a Billy Holiday classic. Her playfulness is extended to a little boy, a security guard at the venue and a woman in a wheel chair with the same delight of sharing her melody. The band changes speeds into a samba with the ease and grace of Carmen Miranda to delight all the onlookers and they dance by an open air venue.

The DavisAndDow journey started when Kelly Dow began guitar lessons at the age of twelve. He joined a Top 40 high school band in which led him to study jazz in college at the University of North Texas. To Kelly, "Music is so amazing; it is a never ending quest and challenge. There is always a new mountain to climb." His early studies with Jackie King in San Antonio then later with Jack Peterson at North Texas were his greatest inspirations as well as the ultimate jazz record by Joe Pass “Two for the Road.”

Meanwhile, Julie Davis was growing up in a home infused with music. She told me, "We had an amazing record (vinyl) collection from when I was a little girl- they taught me so much." Julie and her siblings created shows for the family or for her stuffed animals when the adults were busy. Julie’s greatest inspiration was Ella Fitzgerald’s Live in Carnegie Hall Newport Jazz Festival recording from July 1973. It was the summation of Ella’s entire career, which led Julie to win her first talent show scatting to the song Lemon Drop.

Fate had the musical duo meet through a musicians newspaper add. Julie moved to Florida to pursue her career and her mom encouraged her to submit a classified for The Rag. It read, “Looking for musician…singer into Ella…” This solicitation stood out to Kelly who was docked for a break from playing on a cruise ship. He was the third call in response and when Julie heard his voice and that he studied at North Texas, she knew it would be a good fit. They met at an open mic event with Julie’s mom tagging along to check Kelly out. Both Julie and her mom liked Kelly instantly; the duo performed “How High the Moon” and has stayed together since that night. "I feel blessed, to get to play the music I love most in this world, with the person I love most in this world.” Said Kelly, “… now if we could just get the lotto numbers right."

Aside from being deeply in love, what keeps Julie and Kelly together artistically is their passion for improvisation and freedom in expressing themselves with music. They usually hire other musicians to work with them for percussion, base or violin and agree on certain issues like timeliness, dress code, being a challenging counterpart, passion and not being jaded in respect to musical performance. They also agree that the perfect audience consists of attentive, joyful listeners who are open to the experience and the performing arts in general. They told me, "We received a letter from a woman who would go on road trips with her father and listen to our CD. Her father had passed away and she just wanted us to know how much she and her father loved the music and how it means so much to her today, bringing back some special memories for her. That really touched us, and I think one of the purposes for art is to connect and share with people on a deeper level." And when they’ve given themselves entirely in an evening of music, they return home to their cats and some relaxation. Julie loves to exercise or work on different hobbies, while Kelly practices and further develops his guitar skills.

Fans can join their mailing list and find which venues they will be performing at their website: www.DavisandDow.com

A version of this article was printed in DUO Magazine in Summer 2008.