Mothers in Jazz opens 2024 with this interview by Nicky Schrire with Kris Davis, the Canadian-born, Boston-based, Grammy award-winning pianist and composer.
Kris has collaborated with artists including 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. Kris is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development at the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and the founder of Pyroclastic Records. She lives in Boston with her husband and ten year-old son.
UKJazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling motherhood and career?
Kris Davis: The best advice I received was, ‘You can have your career and be a mother. It’s not an easy path, but it is possible to do both.’ I wanted to be a mother more than anything and held tightly to this advice as I built a career in the arts, planning to become a mother in my early thirties. You can never really know what it will be like, and now that I’m a mom, this advice is accurate in my experience. However, I would emphasize the part about ‘not being an easy path.’ Being a mother and artist is challenging, but looking back, I wouldn’t change anything. Having a child is the best decision I ever made.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
KD: Balancing motherhood and a career as a musician is challenging, especially living in the United States, where there is no support for parents with young children. My husband and I couldn’t afford childcare, so we took turns caring for our son while the other worked. When I started touring again, I was trying to figure out how to plan for childcare, and I received some advice from other touring mothers that they successfully brought their children on the road. I tried touring with my child a few times and found that it didn’t work well for me, especially with the jet lag and exhausting travel. Touring with a child depends on both your child’s needs and your needs, and it doesn’t work for everyone, so I had to find another way. These kinds of challenges continue to present themselves throughout parenthood, and artists have an advantage when faced with adversity in that we are creative and savvy and can apply those skills to any challenging situation.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other mothers in jazz:
KD: 1. You will need to be organized and adjust expectations of yourself when you have a baby. If I played piano for 15 minutes a day, I considered that a success. 2. There might be a period when you can’t work on making art, when you have to prioritize your family needs, your sleep, and your mental health, and that’s okay; be kind to yourself as you enter motherhood. It’s a big change, and the music will always be there. It’s okay to take a break and then come back. 3. Save some money for childcare costs before you have a family.
UKJN: Baby/child gear tips for travel/touring/gigging:
KD: Oof, this was a while ago, I can’t remember!
UKJN: Best general travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice:
KD: Sometimes you just have to use an iPad and put on a movie for your child to get through a moment!
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
KD: Now that my son is older, I love taking him on the road, and he loves traveling. I feel so fortunate to share my life as an artist with my son, for him to see the world through music, to know that there is an exciting world out there to be explored. Jazz is about community building and about discovering and celebrating the ways in which people are similar and different. I love including him in these discoveries.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a mother in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
KD: I travel less these days and try not to go out for more than a few days at a time. I have to be selective about the projects I take on in order to prioritize family life.
In September 2023, Kris 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.
Mothers in Jazz was started by vocalist Nicky Schrire. The initiative aims to create an online resource for working jazz musicians with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Mothers In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a mother and a performing jazz musician.
