Kris Davis- Pianist/Composer
Kris Davis has quickly grown to become a vital contributor to New York's jazz scene. The New York Times recently included her in an article about four pianists titled 'New Pilots at the Keyboard' and says 'Over the last couple of years in New York one method for deciding where to hear jazz on a given night has been to track down pianist Kris Davis.'
Since moving to New York in 2001, Davis has released ten records as a leader/co-leader featuring her in a multitude of settings. This includes the trio Paradoxical Frog with Ingrid Laubrock and Tyshawn Sorey (best of 2010 by NPR, NY times, All About Jazz), her arrangements for Tony Malaby's large ensemble Novela (best of 2011 by Downbeat, Jazz Times), her recently released solo record (best of 2011 by NY Times, Jazz Times), her quartet with Tony Malaby, her trio with Tom Rainey and John Hebert and her soon to be released quintet record with Mat Maneri, Trevor Dunn, Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey. In addition to her body of work as a leader, Davis has performed with many of New York's most creative and in demand jazz musicians today such as Tim Berne, Paul Motian, Kermit Driscoll, Bill Frisell, Ralph Alessi, Eric Revis, Andrew Cyrille, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Tom Rainey, Sara Serpa, Mike Sarin, Tyshawn Sorey, John Hollenbeck, Mat Maneri, Michael Formanek and Chris Speed, among others.
Originally from Calgary, Canada, Davis started playing piano at the age of 6. Coming from a family of non-musicians, she started learning classical music by studying through the Royal Conservatory and her desire to pursue music as a career started at the age of 12 when she started playing in the jazz band at school.
She attended the Banff Centre for the Arts jazz program in 1997 and 2000, where she met future band mate and collaborator Tony Malaby. Two years later she received a Canada Council grant to relocate to New York and study composition with Jim McNeely and in 2006 was awarded another Canada Council grant to study extended piano techniques with pianist Benoit Delbecq in Paris, France. Davis holds a bachelor's degree in Jazz piano from the University of Toronto, and a Masters degree from the City College of New York in Classical Composition. She currently teaches for the School for Improvised Music, City College and Queens College.