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. ^[1] She studied classical piano from the age of six ^[1] and discovered jazz while a high school student. ^[2] She transcribed performances by pianists Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. ^[2] She later reported that, "By the eighth grade I knew I wanted to be a jazz musician." ^[1] She later majored in jazz piano at the University of Toronto. ^{[1] [2]}

Later life and career

Davis moved to New York in 2001. ^[2] After her first album, Lifespan, was recorded in 2003, Davis says she "decided not to play chords anymore, just to play lines." ^[2]

In 2009, Davis played solo concerts during a tour of Portugal. ^[2] She followed this with a solo piano album, Aeriol Piano, ^[2] which included sections for prepared piano. ^[3] Her 2014 trio album Waiting for You to Grow was the follow-up to Good Citizen around five years earlier. ^[1] 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". ^[1]

In 2013, Davis composed a suite for four bass clarinets, guitar, piano, organ and drums. ^[3] In 2014, Davis had a six-day residency at The Stone in New York City ^[1] and played in the UK for the first time. ^[4]

Davis completed her master's degree in composition at the City College of New York in 2014. ^[5]

In 2015, Davis received a Doris Duke Impact Award. ^[6] The following year, she performed John Zorn’s Bagatelles in both Quebec ^[7] and New York City ^[8] 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, ^[9] NPR Music, ^[10] and PopMatters. ^[11] Davis also founded the label Pyroclastic Records in 2016, and three years later she formed a nonprofit organization to support the label. ^[12]

In 2019, Davis began work as instructor and assistant director at Berklee College of Music's Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. ^[12] Later that year, her record Diatom Ribbons was named jazz album of the year by The New York Times ^[13] and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. ^[14]

The DownBeat Critics Poll named Davis 2017 Rising Star Pianist, ^[15] 2018 Rising Star Artist, ^[16] and 2020 winner of the piano category. ^[17] In 2020, she was named Composer of the Year and Pianist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. ^[18] Davis' co-led album New Standards Vol. 1 won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. ^[19]

Personal life

Davis was formerly married to the drummer Jeff Davis. ^[2] She married guitarist Nate Radley in 2012. ^[1]

Awards and honors

• 2016: DownBeat magazine: 25 for the Future ^[20]
• 2021: Doris Duke Performing Artist Award ^{[21] [22]}

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

As sidewoman

References