The Squid's Ear Magazine

Davis, Kris

Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard [2 CDs]

Davis, Kris: Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard [2 CDs] (Pyroclastic Records)

Two nights at the famed Village Vanguard from pianist Kris Davis' quintet with Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Val Jeanty on turntables & electronics, Julian Lage on electric guitar and Trevor Dunn on basses; a thoroughly modern electric jazz group performing Davis originals, with references to Eric Dolphy, Conlon Nancarrow, Olivier Messiaen, Paul Bley, Sun Ra and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Kris Davis-piano, prepared piano, arturia microfreak synthesizer

Terri Lyne Carrington-drums

Val Jeanty-turntables, electronics

Julian Lage-electric guitar

Trevor Dunn-electric bass, double bass


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2-CD, 6 panel wallet with 16-page booklet of color images, credits, and liner notes detailing references in the music.

UPC: 020286242161

Label: Pyroclastic Records
Catalog ID: PR 28/29
Squidco Product Code: 33847

Format: 2 CDs
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels w/ booklet
Recorded at the Village Vanguard, in NYC, on May 27th and 28th, 2022,by Ron Saint Germain.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"On February 17, 2018, pianist Kris Davis played in the second of two concerts at Harvard University to honor the late jazz pianist Geri Allen. It was a fantastic night of music worthy of Allen's tremendous talent. Davis took the stage in various ensembles, with some featuring drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, who had also curated the concert. The formidable connection on display would prove to be educational and ideological. When Carrington was organizing tributes to Allen, she invited Davis to join the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, where Davis now works as the associate program director of creative development.

Soon after, Carrington and another member of the Berklee Institute, electronic musician, turntablist, and drummer Val Jeanty, would be the core of Diatom Ribbons, one of Davis' boldest works to date. Davis had always had a knack for exploration, to the point where well-known jazz standards can sound like new adventures, but Diatom Ribbons expanded her sound.

Jeanty's samples and scratches gave the album elements of hip hop, and some portions of Davis' compositions worked in a melodically fluid fashion only to be followed by others that shifted like entrancing puzzles. When Carrington and bassist Trevor Dunn took the rhythm to aggressive territory, the album had a rock edge that was pushed even further by Nels Cline and Marc Ribot's fierce guitar work.

The expansive concept of Diatom Ribbons begged to be explored live. Thankfully, in 2022, Davis, Carrington, Jeanty, and Dunn went to the Village Vanguard along with guitarist Julian Lage to do exactly that. Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard does not have the same songs as the previous album - it presents new Davis compositions and other tunes under a similar experimental lens. Perhaps as a reference to when Davis and Carrington began performing together, Geri Allen's "The Dancer" was released as the lead single. Davis takes the theme at a more steady pace and employs prepared piano with gaff tape that gives the notes a more percussive quality. The use of dissonance to punctuate phrases combined with the piano's altered tone gives the tune a subtle catchy groove. Lage provides fine accompaniment, elaborating on Davis' lines with soulful flourishes packed with graceful trills.

Jeanty's turntablism feels at home within the head-nod-inducing environment of "The Dancer," and is incorporated well throughout the album. Scratches and vocal samples enhance the pulsating march of Ronald Shannon Jackson's "Alice in the Congo" as Davis shimmers through the motif. Davis and Lage get the track off to a fine start with impressive bluesy playing. Things get more rambunctious as the piece moves into a more abrasive cloud of improvisation that gives way to a storm of drums and piano. Davis' dissonant and complex playing jumps around at a breakneck pace. Carrington matches that energy with a stunning performance that ends with a thunderous solo and a very brief venture into a hip-hop-esque beat.

The following track, "Nine Hats," would be a surprise if Davis had not already made Diatom Ribbons. Understated drum brushwork and languid guitar notes meet synths and the staggered rise and whirl of electronics. All this, plus the bowed cries of the bass and the prickly prepared piano, creates an eerie futuristic environment. "Endless Columns" is another tune that begins somewhat low-key, but ends up being much more than that. Piano and guitar unravel and twist in an interesting abstract conversation that is the centerpiece of a cavernous first half. Echoing turntables, gently tapped cymbals, and a slick bass line slowly progress the band into a completely different space. When Davis and Lage return, the spidery approach of the beginning is gone, replaced with solos with a beautiful melodic focus. The track is a fantastic example of the wide stylistic range of these musicians.

Like the studio album that came before it, Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard is a distinctly modern recording that has something for most jazz fans; that statement could apply to the "Bird Suite" alone. Playing out over three tracks, "Bird Suite" rocks and crashes ("Part 1: Kingfisher"), has gorgeous swinging playing ("Part 2: Bird Call Blues") and closes with the more avant-garde and hypnotic side of Davis' style ("Part 3: Parasitic Hunter"). The pianist's skill with interlocking patterns shines at the end of "Part 3: Parasitic Hunter" and in "VW," a sparser, more jagged number that features a Sun Ra vocal sample. Sun Ra remarks that "this music is from another dimension," and after spending a good amount of time with this album, it's hard to disagree. Listeners will finish this live set jealous of the audience."-Brian Kiwanuka, PostGenre



All compositions by Kris Davis except "Alice in the Congo" by Ronald Shannon Jackson, "The Dancer" by Geri Allen, and "Dolores" by Wayne Shorter. All arrangements by Kris Davis.

"Nine Hats" references "Hat and Beard" by Eric Dolphy and "Study No.9 for Player Piano" by Conlon Nancarrow.

"VW" features a 1991 interview with Sun Ra by Jay Green on KPFA's "Straight No Chaser."

"Bird Call Blues" includes the voices of Olivier Messiaen and Paul Bley and is influenced by Messiaen's "Petites Esquisses D'Oiseaux."

"Parasitic Hunter" includes the voice of Karlheinz Stockhausen speaking about 'Intuitive Music' in a 1972 lecture.


2-CD, 6 panel wallet with 16-page booklet of color images, credits, and liner notes detailing references in the music.

Get additional information at Post-Genre

Artist Biographies

"Pianist-composer Kris Davis has blossomed as one of the singular talents on the New York jazz scene, a deeply thoughtful, resolutely individual artist who offers "uncommon creative adventure," according to JazzTimes. The Vancouver-born, Brooklyn-residing Davis was dubbed one of the music's top up-and-comers in a 2012 New York Times article titled "New Pilots at the Keyboard," with the newspaper saying: "Over the past couple years in New York, one method for deciding where to hear jazz on a given night has been to track down the pianist Kris Davis." Reviewing one of the series of striking albums Davis has released over the past half-decade, the Chicago Sun-Times lauded the "sense of kaleidoscopic possibilities" in her playing and compositions.

Long favored by her peers and jazz fans in the know, Davis has earned high praise from no less than star pianist and MacArthur "Genius" Grant honoree Jason Moran, who included her in his Best of 2012 piece in Art Forum, writing: "A freethinking, gifted pianist on the scene, Davis lives in each note that she plays. Her range is impeccable; she tackles prepared piano, minimalism and jazz standards, all under one umbrella. I consider her an honorary descendant of Cecil Taylor and a welcome addition to the fold."

The newest album from Davis as a leader is Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed, 2013), with the pianist joined by kindred spirits Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Mat Maneri (viola), Trevor Dunn (double-bass) and Tom Rainey (drums). Davis made her debut on record as a leader with Lifespan (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2003), followed by three progressively inventive and acclaimed albums for the Fresh Sound label: the quartet discs The Slightest Shift (2006) and Rye Eclipse (2008), then the trio set Good Citizen (2010). Davis's 2011 solo piano album on Clean Feed, Aeriol Piano, appeared on Best of the Year lists in The New York Times, JazzTimes and Art Forum. Davis wrote the extraordinary arrangements for saxophonist-composer Tony Malaby's nonet project Novela, with the album Novela released by Clean Feed in 2011 and appearing on Best of the Year lists in DownBeat and JazzTimes. The pianist is also part of the collaborative Paradoxical Frog with Laubrock and drummer Tyshawn Sorey; their eponymous 2011 album on Clean Feed was included on Best of the Year lists by National Public Radio, The New York Times and All About Jazz.

In addition to her work as a leader, Davis has performed with such top figures as Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Tim Berne, John Hollenbeck, Michael Formanek and Mary Halvorson. Davis started playing piano at age 6, studying classical music through the Royal Conservatory in Canada and formulating her desire for a life in music by playing in the school jazz band at age 12. She earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz Piano from the University of Toronto and attended the Banff Centre for the Arts jazz program in 1997 and 2000. The pianist received a Canada Council grant to relocate to New York and study composition with Jim McNeely, then another to study extended piano techniques with Benoit Delbecq in Paris. She holds a master's in Classical Composition from the City College of New York, and she teaches at the School for Improvised Music.

The Jazz Gallery has given Davis a commissioning residency to write for her trio with Rainey and John Hébert to take place in May 2013, and the Shifting Foundation awarded her a grant to compose and record a large-ensemble project. About her art, JazzTimes has declared: "Davis draws you in so effortlessly that the brilliance of what she's doing doesn't hit you until the piece has slipped past." "

-Kris Davis Website (http://krisdavis.net/bio/)
11/27/2023

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"NEA Jazz Master and three-time GRAMMY® award-winning drummer, producer, and educator, Terri Lyne Carrington started her professional career as a "kid wonder" while studying under a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the mid '80's she worked as an in-demand drummer in New York before gaining national recognition on late night TV as the house drummer for both the Arsenio Hall Show and Quincy Jones' VIBE TV show.

While still in her 20's, Ms. Carrington toured extensively with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, among others and in 1989 released a GRAMMY®-nominated debut CD on Verve Forecast, Real Life Story. In 2011 she released the GRAMMY®Award-winning album, The Mosaic Project, featuring a cast of all-star women instrumentalists and vocalists, and in 2013 she released, Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue, which also earned a GRAMMY®Award, establishing her as the first woman ever to win in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category.

To date Ms. Carrington has performed on over 100 recordings and has toured or recorded with luminary artists such as Al Jarreau, Stan Getz, Woody Shaw, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, James Moody, Yellowjackets, Esperanza Spalding, and many more. Additionally, Ms. Carrington is an honorary doctorate recipient from Berklee, and currently serves as Founder and Artistic Director for the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

In 2019 Ms. Carrington was granted the Doris Duke Artist Award, a prestigious acknowledgment in recognition of her past and ongoing contributions to jazz music. Her current band project, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science (a collaboration with Aaron Parks and Matthew Stevens), released their debut album, Waiting Game, in November, 2019 on Motema Music.

Waiting Game was nominated for a 2021 GRAMMY® award and has been celebrated as one of the best jazz releases of 2019 by Rolling Stone, Downbeat, Boston Globe and Popmatters. Downbeat describes the album as, "a two-disc masterstroke on par with Kendrick Lamar's 2015 hip-hop classic, 'To Pimp a Butterfly'..." Ms. Carrington was named as JazzTimes Critics Polls' Artist of the Year, Jazz Artist of the Year by Boston Globe, and Jazz Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association."

-Terri Lyne Carrington Website (https://www.terrilynecarrington.com/bio)
11/27/2023

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Haitian born and Brooklyn based, Val Jeanty is a Afro-Electronic music composer, drummer and turntablist. Her installations have been showcased at The Whitney Museum, The Moma, The Lincoln Center in New York City, and internationally at The Biennale in Venice and SaalFelden Jazzfest in Austria.

NYSCA fellowship 2019 recipient she has worked with a diverse group of artists including Anthony Braxton, Craig Taiborn, Andrew Cyrille, Vernon Reid and the late great Geri Allen. Other highlights include "Fascinating Her Resilience" a Wesleyan University commissioned multimedia performance collaboration with professor Gina Ulysse and with Afro-Cuban bassist Yosvany Terry on his Grammy nominated album "New Throned King"."

-Sunhouse (https://sunhou.se/blog/val-jeanty-interview)
11/27/2023

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Julian Lage (born December 25, 1987) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1997 documentary Jules at Eight. At 13, Lage performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. At 15, Lage became a faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University. Classically trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Lage has studied at Sonoma State University and the Ali Akbar College of Music. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2008.

On March 24, 2009 Lage released his debut album Sounding Point on EmArcy Records, to favorable reviews. It was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Lage's second album, titled Gladwell was released April 26, 2011, to positive reviews. On March 2, 2015, Lage released his first solo acoustic album entitled World's Fair. On March 11, 2016, Lage released his fourth album as a leader, entitled Arclight.

As of 2017, Lage's trio features bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Lage also has duo projects with guitarists Chris Eldridge and Nels Cline."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Lage)
11/27/2023

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"About Trevor Dunn

1968: born traversing a fine line between hippies and rednecks behind the redwood curtain. first musical affinities: the beach boys, blondie, cheap trick, kiss. first television: ultraman, speedracer, bugs bunny. first films: over the edge, the mouse and his child, snoopy come home, bedknobs & broomsticks. first books: zylpha keatly snyder's witches of worm, the velvet room and the headless cupid.

1977: began studies on clarinet

1981: began studies on electric bass and subsequently quit the clarinet as i realized that girls would now talk to me.

1986: the same year that Lynch's blue velvet and Slayer's reign in blood were released, graduated from EHS. the school's motto: "pigs live in litter, loggers live in pride". started a band called Mr. Bungle. then i got a job at shakey's pizza. began classical technique studies on the contrabass.

1990: graduated from humboldt state university after studying the likes of harry partch, iannis xenakis, alban berg, igor stravinksy, gustav mahler, js bach, you know, all the cats. Also performed Koussevitsky's Concerto for Double Bass with the HSO.

1992: first Mr. Bungle record released on Warner Bros. Moved to SF and two months later embarked on the first MB tour of the US. At the age of 24 I was one of the oldest people in the van. For the next eight years played lots of weddings and restaurants between tours with MB. Learned a lot about music playing with Connah, Goldberg, Schott, Kavee, Amendola, Greenlief, et al.

2000: relocated to Brooklyn, NYC.

Currently playing in various projects under the direction of John Zorn (Nova Quartet, Dreamers, Electric Masada, Aleph Trio). The Nels Cline Singers, Curtis Hasselbring's New Mellow Edwards, Melvins Lite, Endangered Blood, Tomahawk, The Darius Jones Quartet & Erik Friedlander's Bonebridge. I still have plans for my own bands: trio-convulsant, PROOF Readers and MadLove; and I continue to write music for independent films, practice long tones, pine over Daisy Lowe and drink shitty beer in heavy metal saloons."

-Trevor Dunn Website (http://www.trevordunn.net/biography.html)
11/27/2023

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



CD1



1. Alice in The Congo 12:17

2. Nine Hats 6:19

3. The Dancer 6:44

4. VW 6:39

5. Dolores, Take 1 10:06

6. Bird Suite, Part 1: Kingfisher 11:37

CD2



1. Endless Columns 11:02

2. Bird Suite, Part 2: Bird Call Blues 10:54

3. Bird Suite, Part 3: Parasitic Hunter 11:00

4. Brainfeel 7:30

5. Dolores, Take 2 10:43

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Quintet Recordings
Turntablists
Instruments with Preparations
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music
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