Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kris Davis: Run the Gauntlet

Kris Davis: Run the Gauntlet

By Mike Jurkovic
September 10, 2024
View read count

For her first trio outing as a leader since 2014's Waiting For You To Grow (Clean Feed Records), daredevil pianist

Kris Davis

piano
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Kris Davis takes on her inspirations and mentors on the whirlwind Run the Gauntlet.

Dedicated to the beacons who have guided and supported her searching, inventive way—

Geri Allen

piano
1957 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Geri Allen,

Carla Bley

piano
1938 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Carla Bley,

Marilyn Crispell

piano
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Marilyn Crispell,

Angelica Sanchez

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Angelica Sanchez,

Sylvie Courvoisier

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Sylvie Courvoisier and

Renee Rosnes

piano
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Renee Rosnes—Davis enlists longtime friend and collaborator drummer

Johnathan Blake

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnathan Blake alongside well respected and well-traveled bassist

Robert Hurst

bass, acoustic
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Robert Hurst (

Mulgrew Miller

piano
1955 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Mulgrew Miller,

Diana Krall

piano and vocals
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Diana Krall,?

Branford Marsalis

saxophone
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Branford Marsalis) and brings her cinematic empathy, jagged longings, and angular missives to the fore.

The supremely explosive and relentless title track launches Run the Gauntlet into the heady stratosphere of many of Davis' finest works, like 2019's Diatom Ribbons (Pyroclastic), Save Your Breath (Clean Feed Records, 2015), and Rye Eclipse (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2008). An incessant inventor and instigator, the track is an exhaustive yet invigorating gauntlet of vamps led by Davis that Blake muscles into a clean, empirical form. Invoking the spirit of the six women she has dedicated her music to, Davis is at peak here: a mad, Grammy-winning scientist unafraid to break all expectations. It is as thrilling a piece as Davis has ever recorded. But true to her exploratory nature, the opener only lights the way for other impossibly grand moments. The rubato "Softly, As You Awake," highlighted by Hurst's emotive bowing and Davis' ghostly phrases, slides in and out of focus. Reaching back to her son's initial steps, the jumbled "First Steps" leads into the jump-cut glory of "Little Steps." Then, reflecting the compositional approach of Allen—a little bit of bop and a dollop of pop—"Heavy-Footed" comes as close to a standard song form as Davis has come in a long time. Blake and Hurst lace in and around the pianist's tight melodic manipulations with veteran ease, setting up a reverie that can go in any direction in future iterations.

The ruminative, refractory eloquence of Blake's "Beauty Beneath the Rubble" and the subsequent "Beauty Beneath the Rubble Meditation" recall the drummer's open-hearted moments from 2023's exemplary Passages (Blue Note). Davis breaks the contemplative mood with the headstrong and unyielding "Knotweed," a tumbling bash of a performance that keeps everyone on their collective toes. The loosely propulsive subtext of "Coda Queen;" the gauzy muse of "Dream State," and "Subtones" illusory free improvisation close out the not-soon-to-be-forgotten accomplishment of Run the Gauntlet.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Run the Gauntlet; Softly, As You Wake; First Steps; Little Footsteps; Heavy-footed; Beauty Beneath the Rubble; Beauty beneath the Rubble Meditation; Knotweed; Coda Queen; Dream State; Subtones.

Personnel

Kris Davis

piano

Johnathan Blake

drums

Robert Hurst

bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Run the Gauntlet | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Pyroclastic Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

The Dave Holland New Quartet at Smok...
< Previous

The Great Hall: Perseverance Society...
Next >

Kris Davis Concerts

Oct 10 Fri

Gregory Groover Jr, "old Knew" Album Release

Meadow Hall At Groton Hill Music Center
Groton, MA

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.