Richard Davis was widely regarded as one of the world’s best bass players. He recorded with Sarah Vaughan, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Miles Davis, just to name a few. And for much of his life, until he passed away last year at age 93, he lived, worked and played in Madison. Richard Davis taught bass at UW-Madison for nearly 40 years and created the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists to inspire more people to learn the instrument. 

A new film chronicling his life and impact premieres at the Wisconsin Film Festival this week. It’s called String Theory: The Richard Davis Method. Bianca Martin catches up with director Michael Neelsen to learn more.

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