“I like the beat of your drum”
Friends and associates of Dennis Davis have posted tributes on Facebook with the sad news that the drummer has succumbed to his battle with cancer.
Dennis played drums and percussion with the Bowie band from Young Americans through to Scary Monsters, including the 1976 and 1978 Bowie world tours.
There is much recorded evidence of his brilliance, not least of all his contribution to Look Back In Anger from the 1979 album, Lodger.
Dennis is pictured here guesting with Bowie during an encore of Let’s Dance at a special BowieNet show at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC, June 19th 2000.
We’ll leave you with those FB tributes to a much-loved man who will be sorely missed.
Carlos Alomar
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts for Dennis Davis. He has passed on and released from this mortal coil. Our condolences to his family, his wife Chie Davis and children Darien, Naoto, Erika, Kaito and Hikaru.
Dennis was my childhood friend and part of Bowie’s D.A.M. Trio (Dennis Davis – Drums, Carlos Alomar – Rhythm Guitar and George Murray – Bass). I was proud to be with him till the end. We laughed and enjoyed each other’s company always.
Rest in peace my friend
Gail Ann Dorsey
And this one takes on a more personal sentiment… Sterling Campbell called me this morning to inform me that we had lost yet another member of the David Bowie musical family, drummer Dennis Davis. Although Dennis was well before my time in the Bowie line up, I had the great honour and pleasure of getting to meet him during my early years with David, and prior to that, like the rest of the world, the pleasure and privilege of listening to and enjoying his most exceptional musical talents… In my humble (and perhaps ill-informed, so please forgive me if that is the case) opinion, Dennis has been disappointingly over-looked and not nearly as recognized and highly regarded as some of his peers, for the uniqueness, creativeness, and sensitivity that he brought to some of Bowie’s most iconic and brilliant works, few drummers, if any, could ever surpass.
Yes, it’s hard not to feel pretty bummed out these days… Folks my age or older are being forced to recognize the reality that we are in the final chapters of our story as opposed to the early ones. I think it best we remember that we are still the writers of our story, and although we know that it will eventually have to have an ending, we can still make the plot, theme, characters, and events as joyful, vibrant, and enlightening as we wish them to be.
Personally, I am now going to pull out my Bowie albums and crank my favourite Dennis Davis moments to the heavens! If you will, do the same, and join me in appreciation and celebration for one of Bowie’s brightest collaborators, and a great contributor to the world of popular music… Rest In Peace, Dear Dennis. We Love You, Man…
Tony Visconti
He was a disciplined jazz drummer who tore into Rock with a Jazz sensibility. Listen to the drum breaks on Black Out from the Heroes album. He had a conga drum as part of his set up and he made it sound like two musicians were playing drums and congas. By Scary Monsters he was playing parts that were unthinkable but they fit in so perfectly. His sense of humor was wonderful. As an ex member of the US Air Force he told us stories of seeing a crashed UFO first hand by accidentally walking through an unauthorized hanger. There will never be another drummer, human being and friend like Dennis, a magical man.