A note from the desk of Emily!
In 2016, I took a class at Madison called Black Music History. It was a small class, maybe 15 of us. As Richard Davis went through the list of names on his roster, he paused at my name. He looked up, his unmistakable smirk appearing.
“Do you know the song Waltz for Emily?” he asked.
No, I did not.
“You go home and listen to it. Waltz for Emily.”
I knew from Alex that, when Richard told you to do something, you did it. Period. Without question, and at your earliest opportunity.
The next class, I arrived, and within moments, Richard pointed at me.
“Did you listen to it? Waltz for Emily?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I did. It was really pretty.”
“Em-ahh-leeee”, he sang, the very pitches from the melody of the song he insisted I listen to. From that moment on, that became his greeting for me. I walked in to class, and he would sing that little melody. Three notes, one for each syllable of my name.
Hence my handle, waltzing_emily.
Another time, I saw Richard shuffle slowly down the hallway after a Black Music Ensemble rehearsal ended. Still halfway down the hall, he spots me and calls out.
“Is that you, Emily?”
I laughed. “Hi, Richard. How are you?”
He replies, smile on his face, “I thought that was you. I heard your laugh on the other side of the building and thought, damn, that sounds like Emily’s laugh.”
I don’t think Richard ever saw me pick up an instrument. I was not a jazz musician, or a bass player. But that never stopped Richard from making me feel special or cared for. He knew I dated the tenor sax player in Black Music Ensemble, and he knew that I swore, and that I had a laugh he could hear across the building. For Richard, that was enough. He cared for Alex and I like I’m sure he cared for hundreds, if not thousands, of his former students and colleagues in his life.
Alex and I were lucky enough to visit Richard several times during his stay in assisted living. We always brought food, exchanged stories, laughed, and left filled up and glad we had made the time to see him. Even at 93, he remembered us and asked if we were still playing our instruments.
Richard, we love you and we will miss you so much. Thank you for everything.
