Jazz Articles about Kris Davis

Kris Davis: Good Citizen

by Mark F. Turner
October 30, 2010

It's just a coincidence that pianist Kris Davis has had three stunning trio recordings released in 2010. There are the two on Clean Feed Records--Paradoxial Frog, a brilliant joint collaboration with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock; and Three by the SKM trio, with Davis joined by saxophonist Stephen Gauci and bassist Michael Bisio. But it's no coincidence that Davis' percussive style and edgy invention is also present in Good Citizens, another clear visage of her abilities as a ...

Kris Davis / Ingrid Laubrock / Tyshawn Sorey: Paradoxical Frog

by Chris May
July 9, 2010

There's so much music bursting out of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, and her cultural reference points are so diverse, that you never quite know, as you take a disc out of the sleeve for the first time, what she's going to be up to--aside from going further. The intriguing Paradoxical Frog contains more surprises. Among the first fruits of Laubrock's more or less full-time relocation from London to Brooklyn, the album is a trio set made with pianist Kris ...

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 28, 2009

Ecco un talento da seguire con attenzione. La pianista canadese Kris Davis opera a New York dagli inizi del decennio e dopo una prima fase legata a modelli neo-bop (evidente nel suo primo disco, Lifespan), ha iniziato ad esplorare territori più aperti, formando questo quartetto nel 2002 con il marito batterista Jeff Davis, il formidabile sassofonista Tony Malaby e il bassista Eivind Opsvik. In questi sei anni la formazione ha suonato regolarmente negli Stati Uniti, in Canada, Norvegia e Svezia ...

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse & Outright!

by Robert Iannapollo
September 7, 2008

Kris Davis Rye Eclipse Fresh Sound New Talent 2008 Jon Irabagon Jon Irabagon's Outright! Innova Recordings 2008

Canadian born, Brooklyn-based pianist Kris Davis made inroads into the public consciousness with a pair of albums on Fresh Sound-New Talent with her quartet of saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Jeff ...

Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse

by Troy Collins
April 17, 2008

On Rye Eclipse, pianist Kris Davis' quartet ventures deeper into the formidable abstractions documented on their previous release, The Slightest Shift (Fresh Sound, 2007). Featuring her husband, drummer Jeff Davis, omnipresent bassist Eivind Opsvik and Downtown saxophone phenomenon Tony Malaby, this is the Brooklyn-based pianist's second recording with her reliable quartet and the third for the esteemed indie label Fresh Sound New Talent.

Conservatory trained in her native Canada, the current New York City resident has quickly established ...

Kris Davis: The Slightest Shift

by Brian P. Lonergan
October 13, 2006

The adjective that comes to mind again and again when listening to this quartet recording by pianist and composer Kris Davis is “refreshing. Much of The Slightest Shift sounds close to free improvisation, but there is also a recurring sense that one is listening to a modern chamber music ensemble. And the initial impression of at times decentralized free play belies a group working in close coordination within definite compositional frameworks. Along with Davis, Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Eivind Opsvik ...

Kris Davis: The Slightest Shift

by Troy Collins
July 5, 2006

The Slightest Shift is young Canadian-born pianist Kris Davis' second release as a leader, following her acclaimed 2004 debut, Lifespan. Joined by her husband, drummer Jeff Davis, the ever reliable bassist Eivind Opsvik and the ubiquitous saxophonist Tony Malaby, this recent New York resident reconvenes her sympathetic working ensemble to investigate a new set of abstract post-bop compositions.

Davis' contrapuntal, open-ended writing avoids routine devices like conventional chord changes and head-solo-head arrangements with a neo-classical sensibility. Favoring gnarly, ...