John R.T. Davies

Who was John R.T. Davies?

John R.T. Davies was a remastering engineer of classic jazz records. He was also a trombonist, trumpeter and alto saxophonist and a member of the 1960s jazz revival band The Temperance Seven.

Davies was born in Wivelsfield, Sussex. For many he was considered "the world's leading specialist in the art of sound restoration,", specifically in regard to jazz and blues existing on pre-magnetic tape media such as shellac 78s. He was particularly interested in recordings from 1917 to 1940.

Davies developed numerous methods for restoring old recordings and disliked modern techniques for removing surface noise. While he appreciated attempts to 'clean up' recordings and to create new versions of old recordings for modern audiences, in general he said he preferred remasterings which "keep everything and do as little as possible" to the original recording, and thought the remastering engineer should "Add nothing, take nothing away". The presence of his name on the credit of a reissue is generally considered the mark of a quality product.

He started his own record label called "Ristic" in the late 1940s which produced reissued recordings from 1949 to 1972.