Diatom Ribbons Kris Davis

• 1 Diatom Ribbons 06:19
• 2 The Very Thing 04:54
• 3 Rhizomes 05:19
• 4 Corn Crake 05:06
• 5 Stone’s Throw 04:18
• 6 Sympodial Sunflower 04:17
• 7 Certain Cells 05:39
• 8 Golgi Complex (The Sequel) 07:43
• 9 Golgi Complex 04:48
• 10 Reflections 12:33
• Total Runtime 01:00:56

Info for Diatom Ribbons

A breakthrough album by pianist Kris Davis. Diatom Ribbons is her 14th recording as a leader and marks a new chapter in her career as she keeps writing and playing with imagination, courageously looking forward. Here, she is in charge of nine exceptional musicians, including old and new collaborators, who are combined to provide specific sonic outfits for each of the ten tunes on the record. If the presences of saxophonist Tony Malaby, vibraphonist Ches Smith, and bassist Trevor Dunn are not surprises, then the inclusion of great tenorist JD Allen, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, explosive guitarists Marc Ribot and Nels Cline, vocalist Esperanza Spalding, and Haitian electronics artist Val Jeanty are all new additions to Davis’ projects.

When I compose, I’m alternating between the micro and macro, shaping the details and then standing back to see how they make up the structure of the composition. While writing for this album I learned about diatoms, which are unicellular microalgae that live in the oceans and freshwater and soils. They contribute massively to the planet’s oxygen supply, and there are something like one hundred thousand species. From satellite images above oceans and lakes, huge blooms sometimes appear as beautiful zigzags and ribbons. Up close under a scanning electron microscope, you can see these incredible, ornate structures. So seeing these plants extremely close-up and then so far away, I made a connection between the process of composition and my experience of nature, and that changing your proximity to the same object or idea can dramatically alter your experience of it, often yielding unexpected and inspiring results.

Esperanza Spalding, vocals
JD Allen, tenor saxophone
Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone
Ches Smith, vibraphone
Nels Cline, guitar
Marc Ribot, guitar
Trevor Dunn, electric bass
Val Jeanty, turntable
Terri Lyne Carrington, drums
Kris Davis, piano

Recorded December 2018, Oktaven Audio, Mt Vernon, NY
Mixed March 2019, Saint’s Place, Kinnelon, NJ
Mastering: Scott Hull, Masterdisk, Peekskill, NY
Produced by David Breskin

Kris Davis
is a Grammy award-winning pianist and composer described by The New York Times as a beacon for “deciding where to hear jazz [in New York] on a given night.” Davis has released 24 recordings as a leader or co-leader and collaborated with artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Craig Taborn, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey and Esperanza Spalding. She was named a 2021 Doris Duke Artist alongside Wayne Shorter and Danilo Perez, Pianist of the Year by DownBeat magazine in 2022 and 2020, and Pianist and Composer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2021. In 2019, Kris Davis’ “Diatom Ribbons” was named jazz album of the year by both the New York Times and the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. The album draws from the musical worlds of free improvisation, spoken word, electronica, mainstream jazz, R&B and rock. In September 2023, Davis released ‘Diatom Ribbons – Live at the Village Vanguard’ featuring Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Julian Lage on guitar, Val Jeanty on turntables and electronics, and Trevor Dunn on bass. Davis is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development at the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and the founder of Pyroclastic Records. Davis is a Steinway Artist.

This album contains no booklet.