Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

and

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

. 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 The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

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 A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for pr ...

. 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

hile Hile () is a hill town located in the Province of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha. The shops and re ...

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. Davis completed her master's degree in composition at

the City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 18 ...

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 NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

, and ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

''. 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 Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

'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 ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' 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 The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album is an award that was first presented in 1959. History From 1959 to 2011, the Award was called Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group. In 2012, it was shortened to Best Jazz Instrumental ...

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: ''

'' magazine: 25 for the Future * 2021:

Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique t ...

Discography

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

As leader/co-leader

As sidewoman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Kris 1980 births Davis, Kris Canadian jazz pianists Canadian women jazz pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists Thirsty Ear Recordings artists Clean Feed Records artists Fresh Sounds Records artists Intakt Records artists Tzadik Records artists Grammy Award winners