About Billie Davies
“Honoring the legacy of radical improvisation while pushing its boundaries, Billie Davies fuses raw American avant-garde grit with intellectual European free-jazz experimentation.” _Cobra Basement 2026
Mentioned as one of the Iconic Female Jazz Drummers on Jazz Fuel in 2022 Billie Davies (née Goegebeur, December 10, 1955 in Bruges, Belgium), an American female jazz drummer, pianist and composer, is best known for her free improvisation, avant-garde, avant-garde jazz and nu-jazz music since the mid-1990s, and her improvisational drumming techniques she has performed in Europe and in the United States.
Billie Davies is a known jazz performer who is a compelling presence in the world of avant-garde jazz. Her technique pushes the limits of jazz, and her adventurous exploration of new sound landscapes astounds her audience. She draws inspiration from a rich musical history and imbues her works with an intense feeling of improvisation and raw energy. She approaches jazz improvisation as a form of spontaneous composition, completely avoiding pre-arranged structures or charts. Her innovative take on jazz encourages listeners to embrace the unexpected and explore unknown musical horizons. She easily crafts a dynamic and ever-evolving atmosphere that enthralls the senses with her mastery of the drums.
One can explain the music of Billie Davies as a fluid, narrative-driven form of free improvisation that fuses raw American avant-garde grit with intellectual European free-jazz experimentation. Her work defies rigid dogma, shifting dynamically through straight jazz, free jazz, jazz-rock, nu-jazz, avant-jazz and surreal soundscapes.
She pushes the boundaries of what jazz may be and all who experience her music are left with a lasting impression as a result of her expressive and emotive playing style, which elicits a variety of emotions from enthusiasm to introspection.
Davies is a great visionary in the world of avant-garde jazz, constantly pushing the limits of what is conceivable in the style. Her music is a tribute to the value of creative expression and the virtually limitless potential of jazz. Every time she performs, Davies asks the crowd to go on a sonic journey with her, one in which the rules are meant to be broken and the unexpected is welcomed. There have been many outstanding jazz performers from the United States, but Billie Davies’ contribution to the avant-garde jazz world is genuinely extraordinary.
“Billie Davies once again confirms her role as a pioneer of the jazz avant-garde. Her musical research, which began in the 1990s, has always pushed the limits of tradition, transforming every performance into a unique experience, where improvisation is not just technical, but pure emotional expression.” Groove Radar Report – Jazz In Family – (January 2026).
By 1977 Billie was working in the Private Night Club sector as a DJ in Cologne, Germany. That set the stage for a successful DJ career in Belgium a few years later, she remembers “Les Cinq Anneaux” where she packed the house every weekend. She became one of the top DJs in demand in Private Night Clubs, Disco Clubs and Bars.
Aged 25 Davies started the transition to becoming a professional musician.
She played and performed all over Europe, in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece for the next 7 years.
At a crossroads in her musical career, in the early 1980’s, while living and performing in the South of France (Montpellier, Toulouse, Biarritz, La Rochelle), Billie ended up receiving a grant from Max Roach to come study at Berklee College of Music, this was after he heard one of her tapes she laid down with a bass player in Montpellier, France. Billie was however having too much fun in the south of France, living the life of a bohemian jazz musician and therefore decided not to take the offer. In the words of Max Roach: “Hearing from your tape, you could learn more fundamental drumming techniques, but I also hear the natural drummer, so my advice is for you not to worry too much about your technical skill, you will develop your own, I can definitely hear that, but just in case that you might want to study in a good program, please accept my invitation in the form of a talent grant to come study at the Berklee College of Music, all you need to worry about is finding a place to live and some money to survive”.
Eventually a move to the United States at 32 gave her an opportunity to play all over the west coast. In 1987 in Oregon, she met and played a few times with Leroy Vinegar, and then later in early 1988 she moved to California, San Francisco where she was mostly active in North Beach and in the Lower-Haight district, where she met and ended up playing a few times with John Handy and played frequently with local jazz notables at their unforgiving jams, in her words: the best learning school she ever had.
In the mid-nineties, in the San Francisco Bay Area, she recorded “Cobra Basemento”, that included “The Man From Tollund” that was posted on at the time Download.com, which became MP3.com, and a few days later it had close to a 1000 downloads, and “Dreams”, she called these recordings the infamous boombox recordings. They were never commercially released but preserved for the future.
In 2009, she moved to Hollywood, California and released “all about Love.” with Tom Bone Ralls and Oliver Steinberg and “12 VOLT” with Daniel Coffeng and Adam Levy.
Her 2012 release of “all about Love” solidified her position as a professional jazz musician. This recording of standards and original music, charted #1 in CMJ Jazz College Radio Charts for ‘top jazz add’ in new albums and went on to stay in the top 20 for 4 weeks. Also well received in Canada, the album ended up in the Top 10 on three different !Earshot Jazz charts.
In October, 2013 Billie’s “12 VOLT” release garnered national and international attention. CJ Bond, JAZZ MUSIC, wrote, “12 VOLT” features exclusively original compositions of Billie Davies, and adds the crucial tyne of ‘composer/arranger’ to her sterling artistic fork, augmenting fearless innovation. Jan Hocek of His Voice in Prague wrote: “Without hesitation – HIGH VOLTAGE avant-garde JAZZ – one of the most remarkable trio albums of the year!”
In Dec 2013 Billie Davies received the “Jazz Artist of the Year” Award by the 23rd Annual Los Angeles Music Awards.
In March of 2014 she moved to New Orleans where she released “Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon”, with Evan Oberla, Alex Blaine, Branden Lewis and Ed Strohsahl, “On Hollywood Boulevard” with Evan Oberla, Oliver Watkinson and Iris P and “PERSPECTIVES” with Evan Oberla, Oliver Watkinson, Ari Kohn, Iris P and Allie Porter.
She received more attention due to a player feature in Downbeat Magazine May 2016 edition, “BILLIE DAVIES ’20 Years Stronger'” that was written after her release of “Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon” in October of 2015.
“On Hollywood Boulevard”, her CD released in 12/10/2016 became a January 2017 Editor’s Pick on DownBeat.com.
December 2017 Billie Davies was nominated for “Best Contemporary Jazz Artist” in New Orleans by 2017 Best Of The Beat Awards.
September 2018 she released “PERSPECTIVES II”, re-released as “Perspectives”, by Billie Davies with Evan Oberla on piano, keys and trombone and Oliver Watkinson on upright bass and featuring Ari Kohn, woodwinds, Iris P, vocals and Allie Porter, vocals
“Like the best forward-thinking music, Billie Davies’ work reminds you of many different things but in the end, it is its own original beast, as powerful as anything more well-known musicians have created this year.” – Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz (Dec 17, 2018)
2019 she did a few performances with Steve Masakowski at the infamous “SideBar Nola” in New Orleans, each time with different musicians and each time a different drum set.
December 2019 Billie Davies was nominated “Best Drummer” in New Orleans by 2019 Best Of The Beat Awards.
Late 2019 she started contributing with Damani Butler, an electronic artist and Maude Caillat a woodwind player, and they ended up recording a free improvisation album called “Whadeva Live” at Dangerous Art Studios in New Orleans on Feb 13, 2020.
In 2021 she worked on studies and concepts for her “Music for the 24th Century” project with Branden Lewis and Damani Butler, she ended up calling the results of that 3 days of creating free improvisation music “Pandemos” a study suite of 10 works.
In July of 2022 she made a permanent move to West Palm Beach, Florida.
In 2022 Billie Davies was named an Iconic Female Drummer in a Jazz Fuel article written by Isabel Marquez: She was mentioned amongst a small group of female jazz drummers in time amongst whom were, also contemporary female drummers from the US, Terri Lyne Carrington, Cindy Blackman Santana and Allison Miller.
In 2024 she released the album “On Hollywood Boulevard (Live at The Mint in New Orleans)” with Iris P on vocals and the single ”Thinking Of Marie Laveau”. Both were recorded around the same period of 2016-2017 in New Orleans with Billie Davies on her e- drums, Evan Oberla on piano, keys and trombone and Oliver Watkinson on el. bass.
In April of 2025 she released a retrospective album “Retrospectives (In The Key Of Jazz)” with Free Improvisation and Avant-garde music recorded during rehearsals or performances between 2012 and 2018 with her favorite musicians she recorded albums with in time; Tom Bone Ralls – trombone, Oliver Steinberg – bass, Larry the guitar player Marx – guitar, Daniel Coffeng – guitar, Jacob Bartfield – bass, Jonathan Solomon – bass, Evan Oberla – trombone/piano, Branden James Lewis – trumpet, Oliver Watkinson – bass, Ari Kohn – bari sax/flute. It also features her playing her acoustic drums exclusively on the entire album.
December 10 of 2025 she released “2455 (Music for the Future)” in collaboration with trumpet player Branden Lewis, from Preservation Hall Jazz Band, from New Orleans. The music had been recorded in 2021 at Dangerous Art Studio owned by Damani Butler in New Orleans and became the unedited music demo series “Pandemos”. After listening to all the freely improvised music created spontaneously Billie Davies could not ignore how special this music was and Billie started cutting and choosing the 6 pieces while Mike did the remixing and remastering of the pieces that now have become the album “2455 (Music For The Future)”.
“Hearing how easily Davies brings the sides together in her playing without drawing favored attention or emphasis to either synthetic or natural sounds is remarkably striking and singular.” Max Kutner – All About Jazz – (Feb 03, 2026).
September 27 of 2026 Billie Davies releases “Time to Cut Loose”, a groundbreaking entry in the “Music for the Future” series by Billie Davies, fusing 2020 New Orleans studio sessions with cutting-edge 2026 digital orchestration. She played the drums and the piano, wrote the lyrics for the 4 pieces on the album, and Raphaelle O’Neil performed the vocals. This project pushes the boundaries of modern instrumentation. Reviewers and musicians alike found a challenging, deeply textured sonic landscape driven by complex interactions between strings and rhythm. Billie Davies meticulously directed the AI instrumentation to deliver distinct, track-specific personalities for both the guitars and basses. “Honoring the legacy of radical improvisation while pushing its boundaries, Billie Davies fuses raw American avant-garde grit with intellectual European free-jazz experimentation.”
“A good way to gauge Davies’ drumming in isolation is through the solo drum performance “prelude. Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon.” She demonstrates a mastery of drums that goes well beyond technique; she is able to tell a story with it.” – S. Victor Aaron, Something Else! on her album “Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon” released in 2015.
AWARDS
Nominated “Best Drummer” by “Best Of The Beat 2019 Awards”, OffBeat Magazine, OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation’s Best of the Beat New Orleans.
Nominated “Best Contemporary Jazz Artist” by “Best Of The Beat 2017”, OffBeat Magazine, OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation’s Best of the Beat New Orleans.
Recipient of the 2013 23rd Annual LAMA (Los Angeles Music Awards) “JAZZ ARTIST” Award. L.A. Music Awards – “Jazz Artist of the Year” Certified Nominee and recipient 2013.
DISCOGRAPHY
As leader
2004: Cobra Basemento with Saul Kaye, Michael Godwin
2005: Dreams with Saul Kaye, Michael Godwin, Lee Elfenbein
2012: all about Love. (Cobra Basement) with Tome Bone Ralls on trombone, Oliver Steinberg on upright bass and electric bass
2013: 12 VOLT (Cobra Basement) with Daniel Coffeng on electric guitar, Adam Levy on upright bass
2015: Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon (Cobra Basement) with Alex Blaine on tenor sax, Branden Lewis on trumpet, Evan Oberla on trombone and Ed Strohsahl on upright bass.
2016: On Hollywood Boulevard (Cobra Basement) with Evan Oberla on electric piano, synthesizer and trombone, Oliver Watkinson on electric bass and IRIS P. vocals and spoken word.
2018: Perspectives (Live at the Art Klub in New Orleans) (Cobra Basement) with Evan Oberla on upright piano, synthesizer and trombone, Oliver Watkinson on upright bass featuring Ari Kohn on woodwinds, IRIS P. vocals and spoken word and Allie Porter vocals and spoken word.
2020: Whadeva Live (Cobra Basement) with Maude Caillat on woodwinds, and Damani Butler on synthesizer, electronics, and sampling.
2024: Thinking Of Marie Laveau (Cobra Basement) with Evan Oberla on keys, synthesizer and trombone, Oliver Watkinson on electric bass.
2024: On Hollywood Boulevard (Live at The Mint in New Orleans) (Cobra Basement) with Evan Oberla on piano, synthesizer and trombone, Oliver Watkinson on electric bass featuring IRIS P. vocals and spoken word.
2025: Retrospectives (In The Key Of Jazz) (Cobra Basement) with Tome Bone Ralls on trombone, Oliver Steinberg on upright bass and electric bass, Larry the guitar player Marx on electric guitar, Daniel Coffeng on electric guitar and guitar synth, Jacob Bartfield on electric bass, Jonathan Solomon on upright bass, Evan Oberla on trombone and piano, Oliver Watkinson on upright bass, Branden James Lewis on trumpet, Ari Kohn on woodwinds, Allie Porter, vocals and spoken word.
2025: 2455 (Music for the Future) (Cobra Basement) Billie Davies: electronic drums and percussion, electronic piano; Featuring Branden James Lewis: digitized trumpet sounds, digital keys, synth waves, loops; Featuring Damani Butler (Electronic Loops and Waves) on Infinite Destiny.
2026: Time to Cut Loose (Cobra Basement) Billie Davies: Drums, Piano, Moises AI: Virtual Bass & Guitars, Digital Orchestration, Production. Raphaelle O’Neil: Vocals. Lyrics by Billie Davies. Mike Davies: Audio Engineering (2020 Sessions)
PRESS AND REVIEWS
Read her reviews on All About Jazz
Read her press & reviews on CobraBasement
MUSIC
Get to hear her entire catalogue of music on Bandcamp
VIDEOS
- From the recordings for “2455 (Music for the Future)” released December 2025 – The Root of All
- “Perspectives” released in 2018
- “On Hollywood Boulevard – Live at the Mint” recorded in 2017
- Billie Davies and the Bad Boyzzzz Live at the Mint in 2015
- Billie and the Bad Boyzzzz Live in 2016
- Les Landes (from the recording studio in 2013)
LINKS