Kris Davis is a force for great good in jazz music. A prolific player who The New York Time recently described as a beacon for “deciding where to hear jazz [in New York] on a given night.” She’s also a leader with over 25 albums to her name. All of this of course rooted in her fine composition and piano playing talents. Oh and in 2016 she founded the Pyroclastic label – a mark that guarantees quality in all it releases. The 2024 slate alone boasts sets from Ches Smith, David Leon, Modney, Brandon Seabrook and a former One Jazz Chosen One release from Patricia Brennan.
This is Davis’ first trio release as a leader in a good while and for a format she finds “daunting” she has pulled on the inspiration of five female pianists who’s pioneering paved the way. On Run The Gauntlet she proudly celebrates Geri Allen, Carla Bley, Marilyn Crispell, Angelica Sanchez, Sylvie Courvoisier and Renee Rosnes.
“These trailblazing women were beacons of possibility during different stages of my development,” Davis writes in her liner notes, “showing me that a career in music – whether as a woman, an immigrant, a parent, or a fan of avant-garde music – was attainable.”
Some of the relationships are very personal – Kris actually babysat for Rosnes’ children as a teenager and Sanchez became a mentor. In the cases of others, Bley and Allen, she never met them but they impacted her compositional development profoundly.
The sense of this particular and personal jazz lineage narrative is present throughout a thrilling set featuring Robert Hurst on bass and (the super-busy) Johnathan Blake on drums.
This is our Album Of The Week on One Jazz w/c Monday 7th October