Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
Early life Davis was born in Vancouver in 1980 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied classical piano from the age of six and discovered jazz while a high school student. She transcribed performances by pianists Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. She later reported that, "By the eighth grade I knew I wanted to be a jazz musician." She later majored in jazz piano at the University of Toronto.
Later life and career Davis moved to New York in 2001. After her first album, Lifespan, was recorded in 2003, Davis says she "decided not to play chords anymore, just to play lines."
In 2009, Davis played solo concerts during a tour of Portugal. She followed this with a solo piano album, Aeriol Piano, which included sections for prepared piano. Her 2014 trio album Waiting for You to Grow was the follow-up to Good Citizen around five years earlier. On the change in style over the two releases, Davis said, "I had this concept to make [Good Citizen] almost like a pop record, where the tunes are really short [while] on the new record the tunes are much longer and explore multiple areas. I just wanted to write and not have any preconceived ideas".
In 2013, Davis composed a suite for four bass clarinets, guitar, piano, organ and drums.Bambarger, Bradley (December 2013) "Kris Davis – New Approaches". DownBeat. p. 23. In 2014, Davis had a six-day residency at The Stone in New York CityAdler, David R. (6 October 2014) "Kris Davis: Good Citizen". JazzTimes. and played in the UK for the first time."Kris Davis Trio: Kris Davis / John Hebert / Tom Rainey". vortexjazz.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
Davis completed her master's degree in composition at the City College of New York in 2014.
In 2015, Davis received a Doris Duke Impact Award. The following year, she performed John Zorn’s Bagatelles in both Quebec and New York City in a quartet with Mary Halvorson, Drew Gress, and Tyshawn Sorey. Her album Duopoly was included in 2016 best-of lists in publications including The New York Times, NPR Music, and PopMatters. Davis also founded the label Pyroclastic Records in 2016, and three years later she formed a nonprofit organization to support the label.
In 2019, Davis began work as instructor and assistant director at Berklee College of Music's Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. Later that year, her record Diatom Ribbons was named jazz album of the year by The New York Times and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll.
The DownBeat Critics Poll named Davis 2017 Rising Star Pianist, 2018 Rising Star Artist, and 2020 winner of the piano category. In 2020, she was named Composer of the Year and Pianist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Davis' co-led album New Standards Vol. 1 won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Personal life Davis was formerly married to the drummer Jeff Davis.Ratliff, Ben (6 October 2011) "New Pilots at the Keyboard". The New York Times. She married guitarist Nate Radley in 2012.
Awards and honors 2016: DownBeat magazine: 25 for the Future 2021: Doris Duke Performing Artist Award
Discography An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
As leader/co-leader Year recordedTitleLabelPersonnel/Notes2003LifespanFresh SoundSextet, with Tony Malaby (tenor sax, soprano sax), Russ Johnson (flugelhorn, trumpet), Jason Rigby (tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet), Eivind Opsvik (bass), Jeff Davis (drums)2005The Slightest ShiftFresh SoundQuartet, with Tony Malaby (tenor sax), Eivind Opsvik (bass), Jeff Davis (drums)2005Fiction AvalancheClean FeedAs part of the RIDD Quartet; with Jon Irabagon (sax), Reuben Radding (bass), Jeff Davis (drums)2007Rye EclipseFresh SoundQuartet, with Tony Malaby (tenor sax), Eivind Opsvik (bass), Jeff Davis (drums)2008ThreeClean FeedAs part of the band SKM; trio, with Stephen Gauci (sax), Michael Bisio (bass)2009Paradoxical FrogClean FeedAs part of the band Paradoxical Frog; trio, with Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), Tyshawn Sorey (drums)2009Good CitizenFresh SoundTrio, with John Hebert (bass), Tom Rainey (drums)2009Aeriol PianoClean FeedSolo piano2011UnionClean FeedAs part of the band Paradoxical Frog; trio, with Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), Tyshawn Sorey (drums)2012Capricorn ClimberClean FeedQuintet, with Mat Maneri (viola), Ingrid Laubrock (sax), Trevor Dunn (bass), Tom Rainey (drums)2012Vermilion TreeFor TuneAs part of the band 3d; trio, with Tomasz Dąbrowski (trumpet, balkan horn), Andrew Drury (drums)2012Massive ThreadsThirsty EarSolo piano2013*LarkSkirlAs part of the band Lark; quartet, with Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Tom Rainey (drums)2013Waiting for You to GrowClean FeedTrio, with John Hebert (bass), Tom Rainey (drums)2014Save Your BreathClean FeedWith Joachim Badenhorst, Andrew Bishop, Ben Goldberg, Oscar Noriega (bass clarinet), Gary Versace (organ), Nate Radley (guitar), Jim Black (drums)2016*DuopolyPyroclasticDuos, with Don Byron (clarinet), Tim Berne (alto sax), Marcus Gilmore (drums), Billy Drummond (drums), Angelica Sanchez (piano), Craig Taborn (piano), Julian Lage (guitar), Bill Frisell (guitar)2016OctopusPyroclasticDuo, with Craig Taborn (piano)2017*AsteroideaIntaktAs part of the Borderlands Trio; with Stephan Crump (bass), Eric McPherson (drums)2018New American Songbooks Volume 2Sound AmericanVinyl only; 6 solo piano tracks: 1xKris Davis, 2xMatt Mitchell, 1xAruán Ortiz, 2xMatthew Shipp2019*Diatom RibbonsPyroclasticWith Esperanza Spalding (voice), J.D. Allen (tenor saxophone), Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Ches Smith (vibraphone), Nels Cline (guitar), Marc Ribot (guitar), Trevor Dunn (electric bass), Val Jeanty (turntable), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums)2019*ZoningAstral Spirits/Monofonus PressTrio, with Nick Fraser (drums), Tony Malaby (saxophone)2020*BloodmoonIntaktDuo, with Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones)2020*Inland EmpireClean Feedwith Øyvind Skarbø (drums), Fredrik Ljungkvist (saxophones), Ole Morten Vågan (double bass)2022*New Standards Vol. 1Candid Co-led with Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Matthew Stevens (guitar), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums); various guests2022Diatom Ribbons Live at The Village VanguardPyroclasticQuintet, with Julian Lage (guitar), Val Jeanty (turntables, electronics), Trevor Dunn (bass), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums); in concert2024Run the GauntletPyroclasticTrio, with Robert Hurst (bass), Johnathan Blake (drums)2024The Solastalgia SuitePyroclasticwith Lutosławski Quartet: Roksana Kwaśnikowska (first violin), Marcin Markowicz (second violin), Arur Rozmysłowicz (viola), and Maciej Młodawski (cello)
As sidewoman Year recordedLeaderTitleLabel2006What Is This That Stands Before Me?Loyal2008*Outright!Innova2010*We Sleep OutsideLoyal2010*Anti-HouseIntakt2011*Reveille19/82011*NovelaClean Feed2011*Parallel LivesJazzed Media2013*Strong PlaceIntakt2013*City of AsylumClean Feed2016*Crowded SolitudesClean Feed2014*PridePlayscape2014*NightshadesClean Feed2014*ObbligatoIntakt2015*Roulette of the CradleIntakt2015*Too Many ContinentsClean Feed2015*Relative ResonanceSkirl2017Float UpstreamIntakt2018*Contemporary Chaos PracticesIntakt2018Six Encomiums for Cecil TaylorTzadik2019Momentum 4 (Consequent Duos: 2015>2019)Audiographic (Box Set)
References
External links Kris Davis Trio: Tiny Desk Concert live act Mov 2025, npr.org 11 Nov 2025 Interview (2024) with the Oral History of American Music
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