Kris Davis Trio's "Lost in Geneva"

It's hard to believe that it's been 16 years since I first heard pianist-composer Kris Davis on the debut disc by collaborative trio Paradoxical Frog (with Ingrid Laubrock and Tyshawn Sorey). It's been even more mindblowing watching those three musicians -- and contemporaries like Mary Halvorson, Ambrose Akinmusire, Craig Taborn, and Linda May Han Oh -- ascend to the top tier of 21st century jazz artists. 

This year, for the fourth time, Davis was voted Pianist of the Year in the Downbeat Critics Poll, and in her extensive touring with her trio -- Robert Hurst on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums -- she's doing the finest work of her career, as is borne out by the group's second outing on disc, Lost In Geneva, on her new imprint 4166 Records. (The label just reissued digital versions of her Duopoly and Octopus albums -- the former with a revolving cast of duet partners, the latter with the aforementioned Craig Taborn -- now that the CD versions on Pyroclastic have sold out. Artists, always keep your masters and publishing!) 

Playing the same repertoire night after night on the road has strengthened and solidified the trio's band dynamic, and allowed them to tinker with the fine details of interpretation. If you missed their NPR Tiny Desk Concert, you can watch it here:

Davis's formative influences included 20th century composers Luciano Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, and Morton Feldman as well as jazz piano titans Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. (Lost in Geneva includes Davis's trio arrangement of Feldman's "Nature Piece 5.") Hurst came to prominence through his work with mainstream figureheads Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and long service in the Tonight Show band, while Blake is the son of jazz violinist John Blake, Jr., and a bandleader in his own right whose most recent album, My Life Matters (Blue Note, 2025) addresses political themes. Both men handle any abstract curveballs Davis throws their way with aplomb (as on her composition "The Subtext," which opens the album with Hurst and Blake making like mid-60s Ron Carter and Tony Williams), and engage in dynamic three-way conversations with the leader.

All three musicians have compositional input, including a couple of pieces reprised from earlier incarnations. Davis's moody "Congestion Pricing," introduced by a sonorous solo from Hurst, begins with a circuitous exploration by the pianist, giving way to a sinuous groove that approximates the pace of NYC traffic. The impressionistic title track conjures the spatial disorientation of travel (of which I was recently reminded when hosting some transcontinental touring musicians), leading into "Where Does That Tunnel Go," which previously appeared on Davis's 2010 trio recording Good Citizen, and here receives a brisk and bracing treatment from the current unit.

"The Ballerina" is the first full realization of themes Davis has previously explored in duets with Ingrid Laubrock and Craig Taborn, while "Mourning Dove" and "Northern Flicker" are both collectively composed introductions to Hurst's "The Bluesy Bird in Bob's Backyard," which continues the tradition of avian inspiration begun by Davis's "Bird Suite" on Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard. Blake's "Clues," first recorded on his 2012 Sunnyside debut The Eleventh Hour, opens with a crisp solo from the composer, leading into robust explorations by his bandmates. Davis's "The Deer Fly" takes its title and its inexorable drive from an insect pest well known to New Englanders.  

This Kris Davis Trio is a creative unit in the spirit of Keith Jarrett's "Standards" trio or Jason Moran's Bandwagon. Here's hoping they enjoy a similarly extended trajectory. For now, Lost in Geneva is a thrilling testament to the piano trio's continuing vitality. And the leader, as a composer and instrumentalist, continues on her trajectory from strength to strength.