Morris Davis (composer)

Morris Cecil Davis (1 March 1904 – 13 November 1968) was a Canadian composer, arranger, and conductor. He was sometimes referred to as “Rusty Davis”. A largely self-taught composer and orchestrater, he wrote more than 200 jingles for Canadian radio and television. He also contributed incidental music to more than 100 radio and TV programs and composed more than 30 scores for feature films; including the scores to Whispering City (1947), La Forteresse (1947), Le Curé de village (1949), and Tambour battant (1952). He also composed a number of orchestral works, songs, and jazz pieces. His jazz concerto Blues and Finales in G (1942) is written in the style of Rhapsody in Blue, and his Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz (composed before 1948) was played often in concerts by Maynard Ferguson. Life and career Born in Ottawa, Davis began his musical education in Montreal where he studied the piano with such teachers as Nicholas Eichorn, Alfred La Liberté, and A.E.J. MacCreary. He studied law at McGill University (MU) where he earned of Bachelor of Arts in 1930. While a student there he notably wrote the MU’s annual Red and White Revue in 1926 and 1927. In 1927 he co-wrote the review The Little R