Jesse Ed Davis was a Norman-born Kiowa guitarist who played with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Leon Russell. Though he died in 1988 stemming from problems with addiction, he is now being honored with a tribute concert by some of his fellow musicians and artists, including Jackson Browne, Taj Mahal and more.
Oklahoma State University history professor Douglas Miller wrote a book on Davis titled Washita Love Child: The Rise of Indigenous Rock Star Jesse Ed Davis. He says it will be a one-of-a-kind gig to celebrate the life of an under-appreciated Oklahoma musician.
KOSU's Matthew Viriyapah spoke with Miller and the Bob Dylan Center's Artist-in-Residence, Joy Harjo about Davis and the tribute concert.
On Jesse Ed Davis
Miller: I think Jesse Ed Davis is both exceptional and representative. On one hand, his story is exceptional. I mean, how many people played with John Lennon, right? How many people achieved what he did in the music business?
At the same time, he's representative of a generation of Indigenous people who were really upturning, upending, challenging, overturning, I should say, assumptions on the part of non-Native people about how and where Native people could belong in the contemporary world and in the late 20th century, it was a flourishing generation of indigenous peoples who moved all around the country.
So Jesse goes out to California. He becomes a principal architect of what we call the Tulsa sound. You can't have a Tulsa sound without having an Indigenous artist be a part of it.
Jesse at the end of his life, he was telling people he wanted to move home to Oklahoma. He wanted to come back here and get well. It makes the ending of his story that much more sad, but also makes the ending that much more beautiful.
He wanted to come back to the people. He wanted to come back to his Okie roots. And I wish he could have.
And maybe in some ways, in doing this, the exhibit, the album, the book. And I don't just mean my effort, I mean all of this, us sitting and talking about him right now, all the people have been coming out and being a part of this, we're bringing his legacy home, if not Jesse Davis, the person.
An Indian with a guitar who knows how to use it is a warrior who can step in and out of the imagination.
There's nothing else like it. And how do you reconcile the in between world of suffering and loss?Joy Harjo
Harjo: I think of him with a guitar. I mean, that guitar was kind of, you could call it a weapon of sorts, but it was also an instrument of understanding and an instrument of cultural change, and it enables someone to speak beyond a small-minded capacity.
"Red Dirt Boogie: A Concert Tribute to Jesse Ed Davis" will be held on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.