Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard
Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard
ByWith Lage, Davis sets about to demonstrate that the Diatom Ribbons concept is adaptable to different voices, yet remains connected. That connection is found between her compositions and the history of the avant-garde. The set opens with Ronald Shannon Jackson's "Alice In The Congo" where turntable swipes and voice samples are overlaid upon a saucy groove. The sound is comparable to pianist Jason Moran's Bandwagon sessions. But where Moran improvised around a sample, Davis allows Jeanty to create sound sculpture within each composition. The track blossoms into some Cecil Taylor-like piano explorations and Carrington's funky drum eruption.
Davis draws far and wide for inspiration, from Eric Dolphy's "Hat And Beard" and Nancarrow's "Study No. 9 for Player Piano" for her "Nine Hats" which bubbles with spooky electronics to "VW" with samples of Sun Ra speaking of other dimensions, and Davis' prepared piano performing Geri Allen's "The Dancer." The three part "Bird Suite" presents in "Part 1: Kingfisher" a rocked out tribute to Charlie Parker with synthesizer and piano battling with Lage's guitar. "Part 2: Bird Call Blues" layers voice, Paul Bley's recall of Parker's extrasensory perceptions of music, and bird samples over a classic bebop swing. Finally "Part 3: Parasitic Hunter" finds Stockhausen speaking on 'intuitive music' with fragments of Parker's music and, is that John Williams' "Jaws" theme from the 1975 film that bubbles up here? With Davis, everything from popular culture to high art are available for sampling, elaboration and interesting improvising discoveries.
Track Listing
Alice in The Congo; Nine Hats; The Dancer; VW; Dolores, Take 1; Bird Suite, Part 1: Kingfisher; Endless Columns; Bird Suite, Part 2: Bird Call Blues; Bird Suite, Part 3: Parasitic Hunter; Brainfeel; Dolores, Take 2.
Personnel
Kris Davis
pianoTerri Lyne Carrington
drumsTrevor Dunn
bassVal Jeanty
electronicsJulian Lage
guitar, electricAdditional Instrumentation
Kris Davis: prepared piano; arturia microfreak synthesizer.
Album information
Title: Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Pyroclastic Records