. Bio .

. Origins .

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Born in Newark (raised in Irvington/ cultivated in both) New Jersey, Jamale Davis started playing bass in 2003 as a means of actively understanding what it takes to express oneself via the art of Jazz. His studies consisted of playing along to records and teaching himself to read music, but his best education was once he started hanging at Smalls and Fat Cat, his musical home. These places helped and inspired Jamale in the cultivation of his particular aesthetics to bass playing: the acoustic, non-microphone approach, gut string setup with a concentrated lean towards more straight-ahead bebop idiom translated in his repertoire and approach to everything musical..

‘Self-taught’ is a term loosely used to describe his process of education, but that term in itself falls short of proper description; the bassists that have acted as sources of inspiration, mentorship, and more important: friendship, throughout the years- in their output of lessons learned via albums, live performances, and conversations as friends- are extensive: Neal Caine (one of the first that offered some instruction/inspiration), Ben Wolfe (whom provided Jamale with his first set of gut strings!), Neal Miner, and Ari Roland, whose skills as one of the most proficient aro (jazz bowing) soloists on the jazz scene continues to inspire Jamale in honing his own approach to mastering the subtle, and often disregarded, art. Bassists that also influences his tonal aspirations are Wilbur Ware and Jimmy Garrison (R.I.P to both)...

Jamale is mostly known and regarded for his tenure and continued correspondence with unsung hero, the tenor saxophonist Ned Goold and his groups, where he's held the resident bassist position for over five years and recorded a number of albums. Playing a weekly gig at Smalls for a number of years provided Jamale with the 'on the job training' that helped cultivate his skills as a bassist..

Since 2012 Jamale has led his own group at various places in the NYC/NJ area that consists of some of the best musicians on the scene today. This has also contributed to Jamale releasing several albums as a leader under the Gut String Records label- a label that represents high quality progressive jazz music found in the New York area.

Jamale has recorded four albums as a leader, and a handful of records in supporting cast efforts..

Jamale currently lives in his birthplace, Newark, NJ...