Benjamin Lazar Davis

Born during 1986 in New York City, Benjamin Lazar Davis developed into a versatile Brooklyn-based figure whose work spans multiple instruments, vocals, songwriting, arranging, composing, and production. His contributions have earned recognition both through partnerships and under his own name, drawing on indie rock, pop, and folk textures to shape imaginative yet accessible sounds alongside Cuddle Magic and Okkervil River while also appearing on releases by Kimbra, Lady Lamb, and Anna & Elizabeth. Deeply engaged with African music traditions, he applied that expertise to joint efforts with Joan as Police Woman and Bridget Kearney. For his initial solo outing, the 2018 album Nothing Matters, he wove those strands into an intimate expression captured inside the residence of his youth; the follow-up, 2021’s Benjamin Lazar Davis, remained collaborative yet adopted a more open approach centered deliberately on melodic lines.

His father, Peter Davis, earned his living as a musician through engagements with Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and a later edition of the Mamas & the Papas, while also devoting years to musical study across Africa—an interest he transmitted to his son. Benjamin chose to pursue his own path in music and was enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music when he helped establish Cuddle Magic in 2006. The ensemble specialized in an experimental strain of folk-pop and issued its self-titled first album in 2008; Davis remained with the group for four additional releases, one of them a joint project with Phyllis Chen.

In 2009 he stepped away temporarily from Cuddle Magic to travel in West Africa, where percussion-driven forms and the Ghanaian style called Bawa captured his attention. Five years later he returned to the continent alongside fellow Cuddle Magic member and Lake Street Dive bassist Bridget Kearney; the resulting EP, BAWA, appeared in 2015. During 2016 he joined Joan Wassner of Joan as Police Woman to create the African-inflected album Let It Be You, and that same year he became a member of Okkervil River, contributing to Away (2016) and In the Rainbow Rain (2018).

After pausing his various commitments to reconnect with family, Davis recorded the understated psychedelic collection Nothing Matters inside his childhood bedroom; the album marked his first full solo statement upon its 2018 release. In 2019 he and Bridget Kearney traveled once more to Africa to track Still Flying, issued in 2020. His second solo album, the self-titled Benjamin Lazar Davis, arrived the following year and incorporated work from Kearney, Wassner, Alex Toth (Rubblebucket, Tōth), Mitchell Yoshida (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros), and additional musicians. With a conscious spotlight on melody and a reduced drum presence, Davis co-produced the record with Luke Moellman (Great Good Fine Ok) and Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist).