♪ I need sugar in my bowl ♪
♪ I want my lover, y'all ♪
♪ To come home ♪
>> Music is conversation.
♪ And I need to breathe ♪
♪ Sometimes ♪
>> It's built on collaboration.
♪ And I've said it all ♪
>> Carried on by the
relationship of a teacher and a
student.
♪ Oh, I be the Blues woman ♪
♪ Hey, I be the Blues woman ♪
>> And on both sides of that
education equation is bassist,
Richard Davis.
♪ To be released ♪
>> Richard grew up in Chicago,
learning from the records of
Jazz greats.
>> I listened to Duke
Ellington's band like my life
depended on it.
It's because of this bass player
named Jimmy Blanton was on the
recordings.
I was so enthralled by his
sound.
It was so warm.
>> But it took flesh and bone
teachers to turn Richard's love
for music into his lifelong
work.
>> I had one of the greatest
music teachers ever in life, a
high school band director named
Walter Dyet.
He'd give you lots of wisdom,
but he was tough.
He'd scare you half to death.
And 20 years after I graduated,
he'd still called me up and gave
me assignments.
I'm 38 years old.
"Hi Richard, this is Dyet."
"Yes, sir."
"I want you to read
such-and-such a book."
"Yes, sir."
Man, that's love there.
>> After high school Richard
continued to study and play,
first in Chicago, then New York
City.
The music took center stage.
>> I would sleep while I
was playing.
Yeah, I had a busy schedule.
Some people thought I was into
dope to be able to keep up with
that kind of schedule, but to me
it was just doing it.
I was high off the music.
>> Playing provided its own
education.
>> I learned "Cherokee" in one
key, and it was my chance to
show off a little bit.
I jumped on the bandstand and
this saxophone player said,
"What you want to play
Richard?"
"Cherokee!"
I'm ready now.
He said, "Okay."
I actually took the bass outta
the bass player's hands.
We start playing "Cherokee" and
I realized that the bass wasn't
quite in tune.
Then I realized they were
playing in non-standard key.
I couldn't play that.
So when the song was over he
said, "What else do you want to
play?"
"Nothing."
That taught me to tell my
students to learn it in all
keys.
♪ Somebody is near, dear ♪
♪ It must be ♪
>> In the late '50s Richard got
a call, admission into what he
calls the University of
Sarah Vaughan.
>> Jimmy Jones on the piano, Roy
Haynes on the drums, and
Sarah Vaughan on the vocals.
Just the way she would shape
notes, express notes--
I was the least experienced in
the group, so everything I did
was learning from listening.
>> There were other teachers
too.
Richard played with groups like
the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis
Big Band with players like
Eric Dolphy, J.J. Johnson and
Miles Davis, and under the
direction of classical composers
like Igor Stravinsky and
Leonard Bernstein.
[vocalizing]
>> But in 1977 Richard decided
it was time to share what he
knew and to do some teaching of
his own.
>> I always wanted to live in
the country.
So I came here.
It was like saying,
Oh, there it is.
[laughing]
>> He moved from New York City
to southern Wisconsin taking a
position at the University of
Wisconsin in Madison.
>> What I try to do is not tell
them anything at first when I
give them an assignment to see
what they come up with.
I think I got this from my high
school teacher, because he made
you want to know.
He took a chance.
♪ ♪
♪ Speaking of happiness ♪
♪ Why did it have to go? ♪
>> After almost 40 years
Richard still teaches,
working with groups like
the university's
Black Music Ensemble.
[clapping]
>> I have a question.
Is there any way you could
insert E.J?
He doesn't have a separate part,
right?
>> -- lay down that bass line
that their doing, just vocally,
so it's underneath.
>> But I want this combination
of male/female voice at least
for two bars.
Do it as a concert.
Bring him in, he's a nice guy.
He's good at improvising.
>> Richard teaches more than
music.
He also works with students and
professors to make the campus
more diverse.
>> We have a lot of work yet to
do at the university in a sense
of diversity.
I take that on as my personal
responsibility, to make sure
that the music school, and any
other department in the
university is using diversity
with meaningful results.
♪ And when morning come ♪
>> Whether it's how to make
music or how to build community,
Richard says it's his students
who will carry on the lessons
he's learned.
>> That's why I like being
around young people, passing on
a legacy.
They're the messengers.
♪ And I've said it all before ♪
♪ Oh, I be the Blues woman ♪
♪ Yeah, I be the Blues woman ♪
♪ ♪