Anthony Davis & Mark Dresser

The duo of pianist Anthony Davis and bassist Mark Dresser first began playing together in 1975 in New Haven, CT where Davis was then a student at Yale just prior to moving to NYC and Dresser was living and working between the emerging New Haven and the NYC Loft Jazz scenes.Anthony Davis was soon to establish himself in NYC as an important new voice on the piano, becoming internationally recognized by musicians and critics alike as a one of the "young lions" of the "new" jazz . This was nearly a decade before establishing himself as one of the most important composers of opera whose works share culturally relevant themes: X about Malcolm X, Tania- about Patty Hearst, Amistad, and others. His upcoming opera, The Central Park Five, is no exception and is to be performed this coming June by the Long Beach Opera. It was recently cited by the LA Times critic Mark Swed, as a "Spring Classical Pick." Anthony Davis is a Guggenheim Fellow.Mark Dresser, a Los Angeles native, first came to national attention in the early seventies with the Black Music Infinity with Bobby Bradford, Arthur Blythe, James Newton, David Murray, and led by drummer and critic, Stanley Crouch. It wasn't until 1985 during his nine years with Anthony Braxton's Quartet along with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Gerry Hemingway that Dresser drew international recognition. It was followed by two active decades in NYC establishing himself as one the most in demand bassists crossing the lines between jazz, the downtown scene, and contemporary music as performer, composer, improviser and bass soloist. He performed with Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Jane Ira Bloom, Don Byron, Dave Douglas, Fred Frith, Osvaldo Golijov Joe Lovano, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn and many others as well as recording five solo recordings, and recording and leading his own groups and collaborative projects. In 2015 he was awarded a Doris Duke Impact Award.