Sarah Jones
Photography by Jabberpics

To say that Monroe, Louisiana, natives Jeremy Davis and Clay Johnson are two peas in a pod is the understatement of a lifetime. Best friends since the seventh grade, the tenor saxophonist and vocalist unite to create the unstoppable lead entity of Jeremy Davis and the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra—a musical force that has been gaining strength in Savannah since Davis’s arrival in 2005.

Their most recent wave of success is the beginning of their concert series at the Westin Savannah Harbor, “MadMonday,” which kicked off September 17 with a release party for the band’s first CD, “Great American Swagger.” The event offers martinis and a show on the third week of the month throughout the fall at the Westin’s clubhouse, which will be transformed into an intimate space with a lounge atmosphere (Davis is kicking around the idea of calling it “The Bungalow”) where the audience can interact with the entire 17-piece big band.

Monday nights are, Davis explains, a traditional time when jazz musicians around the country gather at clubs and lounges for jam sessions. “It’s going to be this opportunity to try out new material on the audience, and it’s always going to be a new show,” Davis says. “Clay is the main event, but we’ll have some special guests, including people like Roger Moss, Savannah Children’s Choir co-founder, and some of our friends from out of town.” And these guys have no shortage of those. In fact, their goal has more to do with making connections and building relationships with people than it does with putting on a traditional show.

“We don’t call what we do a concert,” says Johnson, explaining their mission in performing. “It’s not like we’re here to entertain you for 90 minutes, we’re here to establish a friendship with you that’s hopefully going to last for a long time, and I think that really better defines who we are and what we do on stage than just doing a concert.”

Read more in the October/November issue of South!