Davy Mooney

Guitarist Davy Mooney, a New Orleans native, developed an early affinity for music that steered him toward a style of jazz distinguished by its warmth and harmonic depth. He completed his secondary education at Ben Franklin High School while also training at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, where he later served on the faculty. Following graduation he continued his studies at the University of North Texas before enrolling in a master’s program at the University of New Orleans. In 2005, only fourteen days after leaving the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he placed third at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. He soon moved to New York, where he began performing regularly and issued his first recording, Astoriano.

Between 2007 and 2009 Mooney attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, then housed at Loyola University in Chicago. There he formed friendships with drummer Brian Blade and pianist Jon Cowherd; Cowherd subsequently asked him to join the Brian Blade Fellowship for a concert at Lincoln Center. After completing the program, Mooney collaborated with guitarist John Pizzarelli on the duo recording Last Train Home and then resettled in New Orleans. For the 2012 album Perrier Street he assembled Blade, Cowherd, saxophonist John Ellis, and bassist Matt Clohesy. The same group reconvened for his 2017 release, Hope of Home.