A new jazz album is a tribute to six trailblazing women

Jazz, for most of its history, has not been friendly to women instrumentalists and composers. That change only came through their hard work, forcing real change as composers and musicians in the commercial and performing world.

And now there are academic institutions like the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice at the Berklee College of Music. The associate creative director, pianist, and composer Kris Davis is one of those hardworking musicians.

Her new album, Run The Gauntlet, pays tribute to six exceptional women pianists whom she credits with inspiration and support through her journey in music.

Kris Davis joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to discuss her latest album. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.

Arun Rath: So, we’re not going to have time to talk in detail about all of these amazing women. But I just want to have you start by running through their names.

Kris Davis: Sure. So I dedicated this album to Geri Allen, Carla Bley, Sylvie Courvoisier, Angelica Sanchez, Renee Rosnes and Marilyn Crispell.

Rath: And for everyone we don’t talk about, I’m assigning our listeners to buy the record and look them up because they’re just amazing artists. Kris, these aren’t just pianists who influenced you musically — some of these influenced you personally and even directly. Could you talk about that first?

Davis: Sure. I’m originally from Canada and I moved to the States in 2001. And so, yeah, these different pianists here have different influences on me. Renee Rosnes is also from Canada and of course, a woman. We connected early on in my development as a pianist in Toronto when I was at school there, and she encouraged me to come to New York. And then when I moved down, she was super supportive of helping me just learn about the scene — and also getting a chance to see what it’s like to be a mother, to raise a family and balance a life in music. So she was really inspirational in those ways.

Also Angelica Sanchez, who’s also a mother and a person who’s pursued music in the more experimental realm. I probably listened to her play the most of any of the pianists that I’ve listed here. And she encouraged me to search for my own voice, and to find my own language as a pianist. Of course, Sylvie Courvoisier who does this really cool thing with prepared piano, and that’s something I’ve incorporated into my music in the last 20 years or so.

Rath: That’s where you stick actual things into the piano strings to make interesting arrangements of sounds, right?

Davis: Exactly. Yeah. you know, every pianist has their own approach for preparations, but I use little metal magnets and erasers and things and it changes the timbre of the piano. And Sylvie is just a master at it. She has her own way of doing it. And it’s what really inspired me to start exploring inside the piano and seeing what colors I could get out of the instrument.

Marilyn Crispell has been a huge inspiration to me. She’s been my musical hero for at least the last 25 years. I had the great fortune to meet her a couple of years ago, and she’s been so supportive and just sharing about her journey: being in music for many decades, and now being in her 70s and all the changes that go with with being a performer over time. She’s been open to sharing her experiences.

So I’ve had some incredible mentors and people to look up to, and I’m just so grateful to all of them.

Rath: It’s all striking, all these especially the contemporaries you’re talking about, not just a gender you have in common, but you’re all kind of on the edge of pushing music forward.

Davis: Yeah, there is an element of I mean, one of the things that inspired me about many of these pianists is that they’re exploring, we can say, experimental or adventurous music. It’s not a commercial, or in the commercial realm of what we might consider jazz to be.

And that was really inspiring to me to see so many strong women put out their voices as original artists that was so personal and authentic. It just encouraged me to want to develop my own voice and figure out who I wanted to be as a pianist and composer.

Rath: And I got to imagine it’s huge as well. You talk about, you know, learning how to be a parent when you’re also being a professional. No matter what you’re doing, that’s hard. And that kind of support and mentorship must have been huge.

Davis: Yeah, it was huge. And whenever I feel like, “Oh gosh, I don’t know if I can keep going,” I just look to Angelica Sanchez and Renee Rosnes, who are just so strong. And they just kept going whatever pace they had to and figured out their priorities and how to balance everything and very, very inspiring people.

Rath: I know when you’re a parent, just seeing somebody who’s done can just be enough to really help you.

Davis: Yeah, And the lifestyle of an artist usually means you’re up late at night. And it’s very hard to find childcare at night! And so, just these things that maybe you don’t think about before you have children, you realize, “Oh gosh, I’ve got to get creative here” — which is what we do. But it’s another level of creativity in your life. And these women certainly figured out a way.

Rath: On that thread, on this record there are three songs. They’re about your son growing up and they’re kind of delightful. There’s “First Steps,” “Little Footsteps” and then “Heavy-Footed.”

Davis: Yes. My last trio record I put out was 2014 and it was dedicated to my son called Waiting for You to Grow. I was pregnant at the time and I’m writing all the music for that album. And so now this album comes out 10 years later and it’s sort of a little sweet and tribute to him in terms of his first steps and then his little footsteps — and of course, now he’s 11 and it’s definitely heavy footed in our house.

Rath: I know that sound pretty well. “Little Footsteps” is just delightful. It’s just like how a stumble can turn into a dance.

Davis: Yeah, exactly. The first piece, “First Steps,” does this kind of unevenness to it. That’s kind of like you’re walking, but you’re still figuring it out and falling. So this sort of tripping up element to it.

And then we get this march in “Little Footsteps,” but it’s a little more surefooted.

And then, of course, the heavy footsteps. There’s these two chords that just go back and forth and it’s just like two feet walking down the hall and a very creaky floors. So I know where where my son is at all times.

Rath: This trio that you’re playing with — when I first listened to the record, I felt like I thought, this is a group you’ve been playing with for a long time. But it’s not! This is a new trio group for you, right?

Davis: Yeah, it’s new. We played together for the first time at the Village Vanguard in January, and then we recorded this album on the very last day of that run. And Jonathan Blake, the drummer, I’ve played with him off and on over the last 10 years in different configurations. We’ve never actually played in a group together though, and I always wanted to play with him. You know, he’s such a master at his instrument and so creative, and I love rhythm and groove, and he just embodies all of that.

And Robert Hurst, I’ve been a huge fan of since hearing him with Branford Marsalis and Wynton Marsalis. And, you know, I’ve been seeing his name around. He was playing with some more folks that were maybe more interested in opening up Improvisation in different ways. And I thought this would be a cool opportunity to explore that with him.

And I like putting groups together where, you know, maybe there’s something familiar, but then there’s also that unfamiliar — that space where you’re going to explore and find things. Those are the opportunities for me to keep learning and develop relationships with the people that I’m playing with. And I’m always seeking out those those kinds of opportunities.