“A Life Well Lived”

Lurell Stanley Davis was born April 4, 1952, in Baltimore, Maryland – the only child -- born to the late William Lurell Davis and Annie Laura Winston Davis. Mrs. Davis helped to raise and nurture her late brother’s

two children -- Stanley’s first cousins Mena Suzette Winston and Reginald O. Winston of Washington, DC. Stanley was a bright, inquisitive, music savvy boy who thrived in school and in his home church, the historic Morning Star Baptist Church. By age 7, Stanley’s love of being front-and-center in church sparked his budding musical talent on the piano, singing and directing. That early spotlight earned him local fame as the “church boy who does it all. Stanley was also a standout student academically, earning a scholarship

to attend the private and prestigious Friends School of Baltimore. Up late every Sunday evening, Stanley often recalled how he ended his busy Sundays by staying up till midnight east coast time to listen to the live 11pm radio broadcast of First Church of Deliverance. He matriculated at Northwestern University in Evanston in the fall of 1969. Bingo, that set the stage for Stanley’s love affair with everything Chicago! As a college first-year student, Stanley frequently took CTA trains and buses all over Chicago to learn and experience the city’s rich variety of different Black worship experiences and their unique musical styles. Already a gospel music savant from Baltimore – Stanley used Chicago as a living classroom. The excited, musically gifted teenager continued growing his encyclopedic knowledge and talent as a gospel performer, musician, director, teacher, historian and eventually a renowned expert -- affectionately known as Professor L. Stanley Davis. Stanley used his trademark “bigger-than-life” personality, his broad easy smile, and his genuine nature to listen and learn from others while using his compassion to uplift and motivate just about anyone who ever crossed his path in this lifetime. Stanley proudly proclaimed, “I march to a different drummer’s beat.” In the process, Stanley become lifelong personal friends with Chicago’s gospel royalty – Julia Mae Kennedy,

Ralph Goodpasture, the “Father of Gospel” Thomas A. Dorsey, the Barrett Sisters, Rev. Milton Brunson, Audrea Lenox, Albertina Walker, Sallie Martin, and Vernon Oliver Price. The teenaged devotee’s most

defining move was joining the nation’s oldest, premiere community choir, the fabled Wooten Choral Ensemble (WCE) By the end of his sophomore year in college Stanley’s Chicago discovery

slowed down – Dr. Eileen Cherry-Chandler and Clifton Gerring, III, then both fellow Northwestern University upper class students, finally convinced Stanley to become the founding artistic director of the Northwestern Community Ensemble (NCE) on May 8, 1971. Stanley proudly credited his musical blueprint for NCE directly from his firsthand experience with the WCE playbook. Stanley insisted NCE perform more than just gospel music – just like his beloved time in the Wootens. He demanded a repertoire of mastering,

without sheet music in hand, anthems, Negro spirituals, and classic church hymns. After 53 years Stanley’s musical dream continues to fill a spiritual void on Northwestern’s predominately white campus and throughout the Chicago community. NCE celebrated 52 years in May 2023, and is moving forward to celebrate “55 years of Stanley’s dream and legacy” in May 2026. After graduating from Northwestern in 1974 with a degree in Sociology with a focus on Urban Affairs, Stanley excelled in two high-tech corporate gigs with the old Illinois Bell Telephone Company and Montgomery Wards Signature Group. But by the late ‘70s Stanley refocused his professional career on Black sacred music and teaching. Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne recruited noted Chicago Tribune music and arts critic and lecturer of music at Northwestern, Thomas Willis, to draft a

plan for an International Music Festival. Willis tapped young Stanley to help him develop the plan. Tom and Stanley by this time were old music colleagues. When Willis taught Stanley in his music appreciation class in

1972, he turned a 15-minute presentation assignment on gospel music into a fact-filled, interactive hour. A stickler for details, Stanley concluded his presentation over three more entire class sessions later.

Still as a Northwestern undergraduate student, Willis offered Stanley to teach six for-credit courses on the gospel music tradition, which included mandatory field trips to Chicago church services! From that humble

teaching start, the Professor shared his ever-growing wealth of gospel, ethnic music knowledge, and performance studies as an adjunct instructor at Chicago’s Loyola University, University of Chicago, and

DePaul University. In the early-90s Northwestern invited Stanley back as a graduate student

with a joint appointment to teach history and music in the African American Studies Department (now known as the Global Black Studies Department) and in the Bienen School of Music. While present on

campus he became a faculty advisor/voice coach to his baby, NCE. In June 1997 Stanley earned his Master of Arts degree. Over the years Stanley has achieved several firsts, under the broad

musical umbrella organization he created Gospel Arts Workshop (GAW)

– an arts group focused on promoting, teaching, sustaining, and performance of Black sacred music around the country and world through various denominations and faith movements.

- Of note Stanley was a regular instructor and competition judge at the National Black Gospel College Choir Workshop (NBGCCW) attracting as many as 20+ institutions held in Atlanta for years

over the Thanksgiving weekend.

- Stanley formed small gospel performing groups that travelled worldwide to countries on three continents.

- In 1973 Stanley brought gospel and Negro Spirituals to the Baha’i House of Worship Temple in Wilmette, Illinois along Lake Michigan.

- The highlight of GAW was 1980 and 1982 production of “Oh, For A Thousand Tongues to Sing” – when Stanley organized a near thousand-voice mass choir from various local churches and community groups combining and marched down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, to the beat and words of gospel music. The

summer gospel fest ended at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. The event would become the blueprint for the Chicago Park District’s foray into gospel entertainment programming in

the parks.

- Stanley served on the editorial board and worked in convention marketing with Chicago’s GIA Publications, Inc. He tirelessly travelled nationwide to church conventions and music trade shows teaching and demonstrating the merits of replacing old Protestant church hymnals with the new groundbreaking African

American Heritage Hymnal. In recent years, Stanley was a regular trainer and facilitator with The

Anti-Defamation League of Chicago. Stanley was part of a strike team deployed to troubled Chicago neighborhoods - as well as to other troubled Midwest urban cities – all traumatized by violence and

excessive police action. The goal was to use proven restorative justice techniques step-by-step to heal and rebuild trust between the community and law enforcement. In the past decade Stanley has been a guest expert of Black sacred music on podcasts, internet radio and television programs – and always

ready and willing to help grieving families as a non-paid funeral planner

and music consultant.

In 2015 the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA) awarded Lurell Stanley its coveted The Legacy Award for co-founding the Northwestern Community Ensemble in 1971.

Finally, before the word “Foodie” came into popular vogue over the past decade, Stanley was already a foodie who enjoyed restaurants specializing in soul, seafood, Asian and fusion cuisines. And when asked, Stanley could also throw it down in his own kitchen. And our Foodie Brother never missed the opportunity to take home a hefty doggie bag, too.

Professor L. Stanley Davis is survived by beloved cousins, nieces and nephews residing in Chicago’s westside and Racine, Wisconsin, and throughout Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. He is mourned and

will be missed by countless friends, music, and history colleagues, religious, civic and music trade organizations, and scores of young men and women who he has rendered tough love, and selflessly mentored, and encouraged for more than 50 years. Following Chicago services and musical tributes, Stanley will be entombed in a crypt near his mother, Annie Laura Winston Davis, at Mount Comfort Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.