Paying Tribute: Jamie Baum and Kris Davis

These two albums present prominent female musicians paying tribute to other women in the arts who have inspired them. Jamie Baum draws her inspiration from the work of several poets while Kris Davis tips her cap to other jazz pianists.

The Jamie Baum Septet +
What Times Are These
Sunnyside Records
2024

Jamie Baum's project has her using the words of poets such as Marge Piercy and Adrienne Rich as the basis of music that tries to deal with the sense of isolation and stress that society has gone through in recent years. The resultant music often has the feel of a densely arranged chamber group where Baum's flute becomes a part of the overall fabric. It mixes with trumpet, saxophone and French horn to lead the band in thoughtful art-song formations as the poetry is recited or sung by vocalists that include Sara Serpa, Aubrey Johnson and Theo Bleckmann. The music sometimes projects a hushed, looming dread that flows naturally into strong solo statements. On "In Those Years" a ghostly vocal chorus gives way to Bleckmann singing weightlessly over an insistent piano rhythm from Luis Perdomo and cawing alto from Sam Sadigursky. The soft textures of "What Kind of Times Are These" are highlighted by a strong, winding electric guitar solo from Brad Shepik, while Serpa's angelic voice and Jonathan Finlayson's loping trumpet make a potent team on "I Am Wrestling with Despair"

The album dips its toes into funk on the tracks "Sorrow Song" and "An Old Story." "Sorrow" has KOKAKI spitting out his own potent rap lyrics and Lucille Clifton's poetic words about the plight of children in war zones over a bubbly funk rhythm that features Baum's energetic flute and Shepik's scrawling guitar; "An Old Story" sees Finlayson and Johnson verbally review the ancient scars of racism over a simmering bed of popping bass and wah-wah guitar. This project has a lot of potent and thoughtful music that is very appropriate for these uncertain times.

Kris Davis
Run the Gauntlet
Pyroclastic Records
2024

Kris Davis's album is an acoustic effort that continues to use some of the hip-hop influences of her recent Diatom Ribbons band in a more organic way. It is a trio album with Robert Hurst's bass and Johnathan Blake's drums supporting Davis's piano. The music contains her personal reflections on six female pianists who have been important touchstones in her career and life: Geri Allen, Carla Bley, Marilyn Crispell, Angela Sanchez, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Renee Rosnes. All of these women have inspired her, whether through just persevering as a woman composer and jazz musician, having the courage to explore the music's experimental realms or maintaining the life-work balance of being both a professional working musician and a mother.

None of the pieces on the album correlate exactly to the music of Davis's heroes, but general traces of their work do appear throughout. "Run The Gauntlet" bursts with charged energy and fast rhythm shifts like Geri Allen's compositions. "Softly, As You Wake" is a hazy mist of chords and random sound that recalls Marilyn Crispell and Sylvie Courvoisier while "First Steps"'s crabbed chords and "Coda Queen"'s slow progression have a Carla Bley tinge. More generally, the gentle piano melody with subtle religious hints of "Beauty Beneath the Rubble" is memorable. Similar pieces, like "Knotweed," and "Little Footsteps" have insistent bits of melody and rhythm that Hurst and Blake fill out in wild and enjoyable ways, turning this into a giddily pleasing trio romp. Kris Davis's music tended towards the abstract in her early days but as this album shows, she has really expanded her reach and pool of influences to bring an infectious energy to her playing. Her work still walks along the edge but it also carries an innate sense of fun.

Tracks and Personnel

What Times Are These

Tracks: In The Light of Day; To Be Of Use; An Old Story; In Those Years; What Kind of Times Are These; Sorrow Song; My Grandmother in the Stars; I Am Wrestling with Despair; Dreams; In The Day of Light.

Personnel: Jamie Baum: flutes, spoken word; Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet, spoken word; San Sadigursky: alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Chris Komer: French horn; Brad Shepik: guitar, singing bowls; Luis Perdomo: piano, Fender Rhodes; Ricky Rodriguez: bass, electric bass guitar; Jeff Hirshfield: drums; Theo Bleckmann, KOKAYI, Sara Serpa; Aubrey Johnson: vocals; Keita Ogawa: percussion.

Run the Gauntlet

Tracks: Run the Gauntlet; Softly, As You Wake; First Steps; Little Footsteps; Heavy-Footed; Beauty Beneath the Rubble; Beauty Beneath the Rubble Meditation; Knotweed; Coda Queen: Dream State; Subtones.

Personnel: Kris Davis: piano; Robert Hurst: bass; Johnathan Blake: drums.

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