Jazziz – To The Outer Reaches. Kris Davis looks to discover the piano’s full potential. – Ted Pankin

At 7 a.m., 90 minutes before our scheduled interview on Christmas Eve morning, Kris Davis sent an email: “bad night of sleep — call you when I’m up — around 9:30.” We were supposed to speak the previous night, but she emailed me before the appointed time to say that a second consecutive day of recording an orchestral album with saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock at Manhattan’s Power Station left her too punchy “to do you much good.” When we finally connected >> Read more…

JazzTimes – April 2018 Editor’s Pick – Mac Randall

Kris Davis / Craig Taborn Octopus (Pyroclastic) An oceangoing organism with one brain and eight independent neuron-bearing links is the perfect image to invoke for a rather intense collection of piano duets. Taborn’s guest appearance on Davis’ 2016 album Duopoly excited both players enough to prompt a U.S. tour last fall, the source of these recordings. The opening “Interruptions One,” written by Taborn, gets across quickly and beautifully why he and Davis wanted to do more work together. They begin >> Read more…

Los Angeles Times – Overrated/Underrated: A scene-stealer in ‘Looming Tower,’ and does Pearl Jam still need to make new music? – Chris Barton

Kris Davis & Craig Taborn’s “Octopus”: A continuation of sorts for Davis’ 2016 album “Duopoly,” which paired her expressive piano with a variety of composers from the front edge of jazz, this album is drawn from live performances with a like-minded fellow pianist from that recording. Offering a selection of bracing originals as well as takes on songs by Carla Bley and Sun Ra, the album is full of tangled, unfettered interplay (“Chatterbox”) and far-reaching sonic ventures (the prepared piano >> Read more…

Chicago Reader – Jazz pianist Kris Davis pivots from her recent collaborative projects for a rare solo concert in Chicago – Peter Margasak

Kris DavisPETER GANNUSHKIN I’ve written quite a bit about New York-based pianist Kris Davis in recent years, taking note of the versatility that enables her to not just blend in naturally in disparate contexts but make them better. She recently released a stunning collection of duets with fellow pianist Craig Taborn called Octopus (Pyroclastic), which blends rhapsodic reveries, driving rhythmic journeys, and harmonic explorations. Last year at the Green Mill, Davis provided simpatico contributions to an equally agile and shape-shifting >> Read more…

Kris Davis & Craig Taborn – Octopus – Kevin Le Gendre

Piano duos have been around for a while but recent iterations – Kaja Drachsler-Eve Risser: Craig Taborn-Vijay Iyer; Kris Davis-Benoit Delbecq – have served as a reminder of the richness of the format. As for Davis and Taborn, They exploit the full orchestral possibilities of the two instruments all the while keeping firmly but flexibly within the time-honoured tradition of percussive playing. Taking a leaf from the Cecil Taylor copybook, the expected roles of lower and upper register are often >> Read more…