EDWIN JHAMAL DAVIS
BASS
BIOGRAPHY
Praised by opera critic Voce di Meche for his “juicy, booming and room-filling bass” accompanied by “mesmerizing, fully-immersed acting,” basso profondo Edwin Jhamal Davis is quickly establishing himself as an artist on the rise to watch.
This past summer, Edwin joined San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program where he performed Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, as well as excerpts from Macbeth as Banquo. In the current season, he reprises the role of Bass 2 in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X for Opera Omaha, joins Opera Grand Rapids as the King in Aida, performs as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah for Danbury Symphony, and makes his Carnegie Hall debut in Verdi’s Requiem.
Previous engagements include Bass 2 in X: The Life & Times of Malcolm X for Detroit Opera, Sparafucile in Rigoletto for the Florentine Opera, the bass soloist in What Lies Beneath for On Site Opera, and Uncle Wesley in Night Trip for Portland Opera. He toured with the American Spiritual Ensemble, sang the world premiere of Brother Nat: Rise, Revolt, Redemption in the role of Will at the Boston Paramount theater, and was a featured soloist in the symphonic premiere of Without Regard to Sex, Race or Color, a musical work inspired by the photographic artistry of Andrew Feiler and composed by Doug Hooker, for the National Civil Rights Museum. Edwin also joined Portland Opera as a Resident Artist for the 2020-2021 Season. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"His booming room-filling voice..."" – Voce di Meche
Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail – "Bass Edwin Davis impressed us with his portrayal of the comically nasty Osmin, servant to the Pasha. He so immersed himself in the role that it never seemed like acting. It would have been a mesmerizing performance if he had never sung a note; but his booming room-filling voice was marvelously employed to serve the role. The difficult third aria "Ha, wie will ich triumphieren" contains some of the lowest notes in the bass repertory and he nailed them."
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"a focused, resonant, deliciously dark sound..." – Elaine Schmidt, Journal Sentinel
Sparafucile in Rigoletto – "Bass Edwin Davis brought a focused, resonant, deliciously dark sound to the role of Sparafucile ... using that sound as the core of a dark-hearted character."
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"chilling basso notes" – Urban Milwaukee
Sparafucile in Rigoletto – "In a large cast of capable singers, there were some standouts: The chilling basso notes of Edwin Davis as the assassin Sparafucile..."