In jazz, the duo is perhaps the most underappreciated, and least commercially viable, of any combo setting. Consider all the classic trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets throughout the music’s history. Even septets, octets, and nonets get more love. Big bands, …
Pianist Kris Davis’ 2015 self-released Duopoly CD/DVD set paired her with eight first-time partners and generated several ongoing collaborations. But while Davis has also toured with pianist Angelica Sanchez and drummer Billy Drummond as a consequence, it is the chemistry …
Kris Davis & Graig Taborn Octopus Pyroclastic CD/DL In 2016, pianist Kris Davis recorded Duopoly, a collection of duets with eight colleagues: reeds players Tim Berne and Don Byron, guitarists Bill Frisell and Julian Lage, drummers Billy Drummond and Marcus …
Ms. Davis and Mr. Taborn are two pianists with an ear for stark clarity and unflinching abstraction. Each is the kind of player whose presence is reason enough to go see a gig: They can hold an entire band together, …
Live recordings of the jazz piano duet offer insights into the roots of the players’ technique. Piano duet recordings are rare in jazz compared with trios or solos, yet they offer huge rewards. A duet of artists with contrasting styles—say, Chick …
Kris Davis/Craig Taborn, Octopus(Pyroclastic) Two-piano albums are relatively rare in jazz (or any other music), but often interesting. Cecil Taylor made one with Mary Lou Williams that’s like two rams charging at each other headfirst. This record, featuring Kris Davis and …
The conversation unfolds in an urgent quietude, signals blinking in the dark. These are the protocols of “Love in Outer Space,” a ballad by Sun Ra, as reimagined for two pianos by Craig Taborn and Kris Davis. It’s the closing track from Octopus, a mind-meld …
Core differences are at their clearest as percussive bell-like tones and rococo lines complement lyrical ripples Kris Davis & Craig Taborn Octopus (Pyroclastic Records) There are times when the criss-crossing lines and rumbling full-piano chords captured on this dazzling live …
Label: Pyroclastic Records, 2018 Lineup – Kris Davis: piano; Craig Taborn: piano. wo of the most formidable pianists and master improvisers of today’s jazz, Kris Davis and Craig Taborn, let their endless creativity fly high with a live recording session that comprises …
Half of the sixteen tracks on jazz pianist Kris Davis’s new Duopoly are free improvisation, and the other half are loosely based on an original tune or jazz standard. But if you were to listen to Duopoly without a track listing, it would be …