Always Out of Sight, Just Below the Surface: Steve Davis and the Problems of Researching Jazz Musicians

This thesis has two goals, documenting the life of the jazz bassist Steve Davis, who is remembered for being the bassist in John Coltranes 1960 quartet and his appearances on the albums My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays The Blues, and Coltranes Sound, as well as exploring the difficulties inherent in researching obscure jazz figures such as Steve Davis. Using Davis life as a case study, this thesis will examine the difficulties in conducting genealogical research on an African-American figure; the coverage of jazz in the Philadelphia black press throughout the late 1940s and 1950s; the coverage of lesser known figures in jazz magazines such as Down Beat and Coda throughout the 1960s; and the challenges of researching the jazz scene in a smaller city such as Rochester, New York during the 1970s. This thesis will also provide new insights into the Coltrane Quartet from the perspective of Steve Davis.