
Kris Davis Makes DownBeat Cover with New Village Vanguard Classic With her band, Diatom Ribbons, the acclaimed jazz pianist makes a live record worthy of the Vanguards lofty legacy-and a major cover story.
By
John Mirisola
September 21, 2023
Kris Davis at the Village Vanguard
Image by Caroline Mardok
In the space of a few weeks, Kris Davis has released a landmark live album, Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard, and hit newsstands on the cover of DownBeat with a major feature in the magazine. Its a pair of achievements Davis, who also serves as associate program director of creative development for Berklees Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, doesnt take lightly.
Its a real honor to play and record at the historic Village Vanguard, thats for sure, says Davis, who has experienced decades worth of the venues history for herself. I lived in New York for 20 years, and I saw so many incredible concerts at the club, from Paul Motian to Geri Allen, she recalls, and its humbling to know that I had the chance to share the same stage with so many iconic jazz artists.
Diatom Ribbons at the Village Vanguard. Left to right: Val Jeanty, Julian Lage, Trevor Dunn, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis.
Image by Caroline Mardok
Davis took the Vanguard stage with her band, Diatom Ribbons, a stylistically diverse set of players whose varied approaches and backgrounds is a major asset for the ensemble. We have Val Jeanty [on turntables and electronics], whos from Haiti, whos coming from this Afrofuturism approach to improvisation, she says. Myself [on piano, prepared piano, and synth], whos more into free improvisation and bringing in contemporary classical influences; Julian Lage '08 [on electric guitar], who is a wonderful jazz player, but is also very knowledgeable and experienced in playing country and bluegrass music; Trevor Dunn [on electric and double bass], who plays in a metal band [called] Mr. Bungle; and of course Terri [Lyne Carrington, on drums], whos done everything.
The resulting double album, honed in 12 performances over six nights, is a thrilling roller-coaster of evolving grooves and sonic textures, encompassing everything from turntable-manipulated spoken word passages to multiple reworkings of Wayne Shorters Dolores.
The project has rightly garnered major critical praise, including the cover story in Septembers DownBeat. (Davis was also voted Pianist of the Year in the magazines 2022 Critics Poll.)
For sure, many pianists, ranging from such towering icons as Bill Evans, Bobby Timmons, McCoy Tyner, and Thelonious Monk to such eminent modernists as Brad Mehldau, Uri Caine, Jason Moran, Chucho Vald s, Geri Allen, and Junko Onishi have documented their stints at the Village Vanguard, writes DownBeats John Murph. And some of those albums have become part of the pantheon of best live albums in jazz history. Davis adds her scintillating new double-disc . . . to that distinguished legacy.
To be on the cover of Downbeat is incredible, of course, Davis says. I really want people to hear this album, because I think its one of my most creative and accessible albums, with some beautiful group interaction, and hopefully all the wonderful press the album has received will translate into people wanting to check out the music.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Elena Pinderhughes
Image courtesy of the artist
Berklee Announces 2023 Fall Signature Series Lineup This years series will feature Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, Pavel N ez, and the Pletenitsa Balkan Choir, as well as a career-spanning tribute to Madonna.
Latest
Image generated with AI, using the prompt, digital art of an algorithm flowing out of the laptop screens of every student sitting in a college classroom.
How Generative AI Is Changing College Classes Four Berklee professors explore the educational opportunities and concerns raised by new AI tools like OpenAIs ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot.
Image courtesy of Juliette Ojeda
Conservatory Student Wows Gwen Stefani on The Voice Premiere Juliette Ojedas bilingual rendition of Hopelessly Devoted to You landed her on Team Gwen.
Two Alumni Compete on Season 24 of NBC's The Voice Taylor Deneen and Claudia B are the latest Berklee artists to compete on the hit singing competition.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
North America Stories
15/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BBC World Service has selected its IP ...
15/04/2026
LiveU has announced an expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, add...
15/04/2026
Ateme has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to support live Apple Immersive ...
15/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a multi-year partnership renewal with DAZN DACH, covering Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and...
15/04/2026
Canon U.S.A. (NAB Booth C3825) today took the lid off of the CINE-SERVO 40-1200m...
15/04/2026
Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America and NEP Group will demonstrate a...
15/04/2026
For the fourth year running, independent analysts found businesses across all industries and verticals pay roughly the same amount in fees as they spend on stor...
15/04/2026
The Soccer Tournament (TST) has announced a media rights deal with NBC Sports to...
15/04/2026
JB&A will host the Pre-NAB 2026 Technology Event on April 17-18 at Flamingo Las Vegas, ahead of NAB Show. The event features hands-on demonstrations and technic...
15/04/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth 4931, Central Hall), with demonstrations from Sennheiser, Neumann, and Merging across three areas: Rel...
15/04/2026
NAB Show 2026 will take place April 18-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, wi...
15/04/2026
AI-Media has announced the LEXI Text Encoder and LEXI Voice Encoder at NAB Show 2026, the company's first new encoder hardware release in more than a decade...
15/04/2026
Italian camera support manufacturer Cartoni will introduce several new products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C6540, Central Hall), including the Master 30 OB fluid h...
15/04/2026
Lawo and swXtch.io have announced a memorandum of understanding at NAB Show 2026, under which Lawo will explore incorporating swXtch.io's groundSwXtch softw...
15/04/2026
CacheFly will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W3129, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), showcasing three new additions to its content delivery platform:...
15/04/2026
Synamedia has announced GO Shorts, a new module within its Synamedia Go OTT platform that uses AI to convert an operator's existing content library into a s...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show kicks off on Saturday, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams a...
15/04/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced an agreement to acquire Comprimato, a live video encoding and processing software company. The deal will unite the two companies...
15/04/2026
Prime Video Sports' NBA Playoffs coverage, which includes the entire SoFi NB...
15/04/2026
Just announced, the SDE standard provides a unified method and file format to ensure consistent and reliably comparable noise predictions
Sports and entertainm...
15/04/2026
Image courtesy of MD Helicopters...
15/04/2026
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, L3Harris VP Mark Farley, and state and local l...
15/04/2026
U.S. Space Forces Ground-Based Optical Sensor System upgrade at the Maui Space S...
15/04/2026
NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...
15/04/2026
New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...
15/04/2026
Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...
15/04/2026
LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...
15/04/2026
Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...
15/04/2026
Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...
15/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
Apri...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...
15/04/2026
VO Integrates Client-Side and Server-Side Ad Technologies with its Secure Video Player and Segmentation Tools, Leveraging Broadpeak's SSAI and BPK SmartLib ...
15/04/2026
TMT Insights, a leader in professional services and software development for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced the launch of TMT AI at...
15/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media, a global leader in managed broadcast and cloud-based media services, today announced an expanded partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastr...
15/04/2026
Middleman Software, a leading provider of signaling and synchronization solutions for broadcast and streaming workflows, today announced it will unveil PhaseLoc...
15/04/2026
Deity Microphones today announced the PR-4, a compact six-track field recorder featuring four inputs, 32-bit float recording, advanced routing, and a workflow-f...
15/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Powerful software-based live audio mixer with support for SMPTE-2110...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/04/2026
Strategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth
Thomas Riedel, founder and owner of Riedel Communications and the Riedel Group, has acqui...
15/04/2026
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company's Rally platform has been deployed by Iyuno Media...