Interview: Bryce Edwards & Mike Davis on HOT COMBINATION at Birdland

For one night only on Monday September 1, 2025 at 7 pm, vaudevillian troubadour Bryce Edwards (of Birdland’s critically acclaimed Frivolity Hour) and New York’s premiere “antimodernist” cornetist Mike Davis (of The New Wonders) are coming together to celebrate the centennial of one of jazz’s hottest overlooked duos! We chatted with Edwards and Davis about their Hot Combination show, tributing Cliff Edwards (of no relation to Bryce) and Red Nichols.

What are you most looking forward to about your upcoming show at Birdland?

Bryce Edwards: This is a particularly exciting show for me. I’ve wanted to do a Cliff Edwards tribute since day one, and so I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Mike approached me to do this project. Mike is a real scholar when it comes to this era, and his playing is always vivacious. He’s taken such great care with the arrangements and put together a really stellar band, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ll be sharing the stage with some of my favorite players in New York. This is music that’s pretty rarely performed- despite how great it is, it’s been kind of neglected, and there’s no doubt that on the first it’s going to get the right sort of tribute.

Mike Davis:  It's a big deal to me to be playing at Birdland as co-leader of this show! I've had the privilege of playing there as a sideman quite a bit recently with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, the High Society Jazz Band of New Orleans, and the Anderson Brothers, but this will be my first time contributing to the program and direction of the music. 

Red Nichols is one of my favorite cornetists and greatest influences for his balance of technical prowess with creativity and a sense of whimsy, and in that regard, Cliff Edwards is the perfect foil for him. It's great fun to play that way!

How did you first discover Red Nichols and Cliff Edwards? What draws you to their music?

BE: Starting at a pretty early age, I was deeply fascinated by the sound and repertoire of early 20th century vocalists. When I was around 12, I started teaching myself how to play the ukulele so I could accompany myself singing the kind of music that I really loved. Naturally, I was drawn to Cliff Edwards (aka Ukulele Ike) because he didn’t need an eleven-piece dance orchestra- on many of his earliest recordings, he was working with exactly what I had and creating something wonderful. With only his seemingly elastic voice and his rhythmic, driving ukulele playing, Edwards could essentially turn himself into a one-man jazz band. When I was in high school, I got my hands on a copy of his self-penned “When My Sweetie Puts Her Loving On,” and I learned it off the record. That’s a great example of the kind of walloping energy Edwards could bring to a tune- in 1924 you only really hear that same kind of fierce rhythmic bite and verve from the best jazz bands who were recording, and this is just one guy going absolutely ballistic with a ukulele. Not only that, he was incredibly versatile. This is a fellow with top notch comedic instincts, and yet he can turn around and sing so beautifully heartfelt that it’s really affecting.

Red Nichols I suppose I came to love by obsessively listening to jazz records from this era. His playing is inventive and refreshing in that he really did have a unique sound. I got hooked on his work with the Five Pennies, Miff Mole’s Little Molers, the Charleston Chasers, etc., and was particularly drawn both to their slightly avant-garde/“modernistic” material (I’m particularly fond of Fud Livingston compositions like Delirium and Imagination) and their outside-the-box interpretations of standard “war horse” material.

MD: My very favorite thing about early jazz is the variety of regional and personal styles, before coast-to-coast radio and nationwide record distribution, and Red Nichols really had his own "thing". So much so, in fact, that he was one of the most in-demand recording artists of the jazz age, which led later jazz critics to label him "old-fashioned". Cliff Edwards also arrived at his own sound, with incredible control of his powerful voice, yet a light and whimsical feel and talent for tongue-in-cheek delivery, and they complement each other in a beautiful and subtle way. These records make me want to play, and this show is a chance to finally do it on a grand scale.

Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like putting this show and set list together?

BE: With the exception of two of the numbers, the arrangements and selections were Mike’s, so I’ll let him take the lead on this one.

MD: I wrote most of these transcriptions for a festival last November in England (Mike Durham's International Classic Jazz Party), but it would have been a shame not to play them again! I had wanted to work with Bryce, and this program seemed like the perfect fit, a tribute to each of our heroes and a natural showcase for both of us. We filled out the program with some instrumental numbers from the same period and the same studio bands, and one number reimagined in the style of the rest; you'll have to come to the show to find out what!

Who do you think would enjoy seeing this show?

BE: I do think just about anyone can find something to enjoy in this show. People have a hard time engaging with the music of this era, and I think one of the big things that prevents people from connecting with it is recording quality. I really think that for a lot of people, the sound of the old recording process really creates a barrier, because I’ve come to find that when people hear music from this era played live a lot of them are even surprised at how much they like it. When you hear it live, you really get to feel the pulse and verve of this music more vividly and it feels less like a museum piece. This being said, I think just about anyone can find something to enjoy in this show. If you’re an aficionado, then you already know you have to be here- when is the next time you’ll be able to hear this stuff played live? But then again, you don’t have to be an aficionado to hear that this is great music. If you have any interest at all in the era, this show is for you, because I do think it paints a rather authentic musical picture. For those coming to Birdland expecting something jazzy, you can rest easy knowing that you’ll be hearing some great historic jazz with a still-beating heart. For the American songbook disciple, you’ll hear tons of wonderful lesser-known material by some really iconic songsmiths, and for the cabaret crowd I’ll try my darnedest to perform the living daylights out of them. Mainly though one of the things I hope to accomplish with any show is I hope that if someone comes in who isn’t familiar with this musical era, they leave perhaps a bit more interested in this era of music or with a better understanding or appreciation for it. I have a theory that a big chunk of the people who love this music haven’t heard it yet.

MD: "Hot Combination" has something for everyone: for the jazz fan, deep cuts, meticulously transcribed from the records but performed with a depth of familiarity with the music of the time that makes them feel fresh. For the cabaret fan, a bouquet of obscure songs (and a few familiar favorites) full of refreshing lyrics and some rather risqué moments. And for the average Joe, the genuine enthusiasm of a world-class jazz band playing great music!

Aside from this show, what else have you been filling your time with lately? Do you have any other upcoming projects you'd like to share with us?

BE: Aside from my usual sideman hustle, I have my signature show, "The Bryce Edwards Frivolity Hour." Once again, I will be bringing this show back to my hometown, in the heart of the beautiful Hudson Valley at an amazing little jewel box theatre, The Philipstown Depot, on Friday, October 3rd at 7:30 pm. Then I’ll be back at Birdland with more Frivolity, December 15th at 7 pm. Come to both! The Frivolity Hour is never the same twice. In between, on October 21st, it’s my great honor to be a part of this year’s Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Convention, celebrating an evening of Cy Coleman.

MD: I have multiple upcoming tours with the Lovestruck Balladeers, as well as an upcoming album with them, and my most recent album as a leader is available from Turtle Bay Records.

Learn more about Bryce Edwards on Instagram here

Learn more about Mike Davis on Instagram here. Mike Davis’s new album "Steppin' Out" is now available from Turtle Bay Records here.

Tickets to Hot Combination on September 1 are available on Birdland’s website here.