Aaron Davis

Since 1990 at the earliest, Aaron Davis has sustained a commanding role across eastern Canada’s music community through his work as an arranger, composer, and keyboardist. A 1990 Christmas music collection recorded with the Canadian Brass counts among his first documented releases, yet outside classical circles he is recognized chiefly for his songwriting and performance partnerships with vocalists Holly Cole and Marie Lynn Hammond, the latter a former member of the 1970s folk band Stringband.

Bassist David Piltch has become Davis’s most consistent collaborator, anchoring the rhythm section of the Holly Cole Trio and forming the duo Piltch & Davis. Davis entered the Canadian group Manteca—named after a classic Latin jazz composition—after the ensemble had already operated for nearly a decade, adding his intense musicianship and also playing percussion in that setting. His songwriting contributions include the Cole recordings “Neon Blue” and the searching “What About Me?”