Biography Ron Davis

"...very well may be the most gifted pianist in Canada!" - rivetingriffs.com

Music gives pleasure and makes us think. There's no need to choose intelligence over entertainment. This is what Ron Davis is about.

Ron has coaxed music from his piano since his early youth. Now he shares this passion all over the world, including Asia, which he has toured four times. Ron is a brilliant virtuoso and engaging entertainer. His playing calls to mind Oscar Peterson and Jamie Cullum. Accolades abound.

Ron's most recent CD, his 7th, My Mother's Father's Song, is his first all-trio recording. A celebrated 1930s Polish song about Ron's maternal grandfather lends the CD its title. Bal u grabego Joska is a sensitive, emotional embrace and touching family tribute. Also among the CD's thirteen tracks: My Shining Hour (Arlen & Mercer), For Once in My Life (Stevie Wonder) and Viva la Vida (Coldplay).

Ron works with symphony orchestras to put the "fun" in funky. SymphRonica (symphronica.com) superimposes his unique brand of jazz on the traditional symphonic landscape, to create an unforgettable concert experience. Ron has also led ongoing jazz series, like Ron Davis and Friends and Gate 403 Jam Session.

More than a pianist, Ron has garnered international acclaim as a composer. Rhythmaron: The Music of Ron Davis (2008) is a deluxe compendium of 23 dazzling original tunes.

In Ron's hands and ears-on workshop, Playing Along to Surpass (playingalongtosurpass.com), he teaches how to translate jazz performance techniques into business success. It's cool. It works.

Ron's written word compositions include Pianobabbler (pianobabbler.com), his irreverent, urbane blog of musical musings. It's his privilege to pen keyboard columns in Canadian Musician magazine. He's published and edited numerous articles and books on music, linguistics and law.

After studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Ron's talent gelled as a teen. His mentor was the late Darwyn Aitken, a musical giant who passed on lessons learned at the hands of piano legends David Saperton (classical) and Oscar Peterson (jazz).

His eclectic nature embraced other disciplines. Ron was a lawyer. He taught at the Bar. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, where he earned a PhD in French linguistics.

Ron serves on the Glenn Gould Foundation Executive Committee, and on the advisory boards for the Jazz Performance and Education Centre and Reaching Out Through Music. Peacebuilders International and Feed the Hungry are among his other causes. For eight years, he co-produced Jazz for Herbie, an annual benefit for Sick Kids Hospital Foundation, helping children around the world in medical need.

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