Jeff Davis R.I.P.

[american boy]

Just heard from a mutual friend of the passing of Jeff Davis; Jeff was an excellent Trumpet player,and played lead Trumpet with Woody,Buddy, and Thad`s band before moving to Denmark in the 80s. He was also a great guy,and we toured a lot together with a few different bands; He leaves behind a wife,and a grown up son;;I can`t believe it really. Was told he was battling Cancer for a while; Rest in Peace my friend.

[trumpet.sanity]

Very sad news. Jeff moved to Europe some time back if I recall. Did he ever come home, or is his family still in Denmark?

[american boy]

Jeff was living in Denmark as far as I know; His son is a soldier in the Danish armed forces; I had not seen Jeff since the late 80`s.; I had heard he was playing in Ernie Wilkins big band a while back. Very talented musician.He just loved Clark Terry and Snooky Young

[trumpet.sanity]

Jeff was a classy player. Loved those Woody recordings!

I've said it before, and I just don't understand. With all the wealth, resources, brilliant minds, research centers, NIH, etc etc. Why we can't find a cure for cancer today just baffles me. It is such a slow moving, mean, ugly disease. I've lost many friends and family, as we all have, and I hear these kinds of stories everyday. It's just tragic.

Thanks for passing on this sad news, I hope Jeff's family is doing alright, and I'm sending prayers their way.

[Asteve33]

I need to listen to more of old Jeff

[K. Davis]

Hey, guys...

My name is Kurt. I'm Jeff Davis' kid brother. I stumbled across this thread recently while searching Jeff's name online and thought I'd help to set the record straight.

In the mid 80's, Jeff was on tour in Denmark (with Thad Jones, I believe) when a local lady bought him a drink. Sparks flew and soon after, Jeff left his Roosevelt Island home off the coast of Manhattan to be with her. They were married three months later.

In Denmark, Jeff taught music and was teaching entire classes in Danish in less than a month. He and his wife had a son named Mads who went on to join the Danish military, rank 2nd in his sniper class and eventually survive combat in Afghanistan.

Jeff did not have cancer. When he left the states for DK, he was already exhibiting early symptoms of a condition that would later be diagnosed as Syringomyelia, an aggressive degenerative disease that complicates commands from the brain to the muscles in the body.

The illness causes numbness, complicates movement and later prevents coordination. Jeff was enormously appreciative of friends/bandmates who helped him walk to and from the stage for his final gig. After that performance, Jeff knew he couldn't continue playing professionally.

Though his marriage didn't survive his stay in DK, Jeff was lucky to land where he did. Denmark treats its disabled and single parents with much more generosity than he could have ever hoped for in The States (where he would have likely spent his final years impoverished and in substandard conditions). Jeff had a home in DK with handicap accommodations paid for by the state, neighbor children who were very fond of him and enjoyed a close relationship with his son Mads, who is now a tall and strikingly handsome police officer in Copenhagen.

In December of 2017, Jeff was looking forward to a visit from Mads and his gf. Though he'd been using a wheelchair for years at that point, Jeff was busy putting up decorations and preparing his Christmas tree for his son's visit. Mads would later report that when he spoke to his dad earlier that day, Jeff was in high spirits and sounded fine.

When he didn't answer a subsequent call, a welfare check was triggered. Respondents found Jeff 'asleep' in his wheelchair. Attempts were made to resuscitate him, to no avail. It would later be determined that Jeff's heart had simply stopped (as is typical of Syringomyelia in its final stage).

The date was December 19th. Jeff's birthday.

If there is any silver lining to the end of my brother's story, it is that he left this world with a heart filled with joy and anticipation and likely passed quietly and without pain, the most any of us can hope for. Seeing in this thread how fondly he is still thought of by his friends and colleagues warms my heart.

Thank you for sharing your kind words. Jeff appreciated you all.
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Brother of Jeff Davis

[kehaulani]

Thank you for sharing that with us, Kurt. Very moving.
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