Maxwell Davis

Tenor saxophonist Maxwell Davis operated as a versatile producer, songwriter, and session player whose influence on the postwar Los Angeles R&B circuit paralleled the key contributions Willie Dixon made in Chicago during the same era. Beginning in the late 1940s, he arranged and produced countless dates for Modern, Aladdin, and additional independent West Coast labels, frequently adding his robust horn lines to the resulting sides.

After relocating from Kansas to Los Angeles in 1937, Davis spent time in Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra until the R&B sound took hold of his attention. Steady employment through the 1950s and 1960s came largely via Modern/Kent, where he collaborated with Pee Wee Crayton, Etta James, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Lowell Fulson, Z.Z. Hill, and numerous other artists on the Bihari Brothers’ roster. At Aladdin he maintained close working ties with Amos Milburn and Peppermint Harris, among additional acts. Although Davis achieved only limited success fronting his own groups, the instrumentals “Look Sharp -- Be Sharp,” an R&B adaptation of the Gillette march issued on Aladdin, and the RPM pairing “Tempo Rock”/“Cool Diggin’” both landed with considerable force.