Written by Just a year ago, I was enjoying the sights and music of New York, and in the process, got to the wonderful Devon Gates. Devon Gates is a bassist, vocalist and composer from Atlanta, Georgia, now based in Brooklyn, NY. After studying anthropology and jazz performance at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music, she has worked with artists including Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Jen Shyu, Fay Victor, Nicole Mitchell, Susie Ibarra, and Sara Serpa, performing across the US and on the international stage.
Photo by Neri Mastriani-Levi
Performing works for the first time in the UK from her newest project, “Water Dancers” and fresh from a New York premiere at The Jazz Gallery in December, she explores colours, sounds, and textures inspired by the elements of water and air, the blues, and the question: what might it mean to dance in rhythm with the ever-changing movement of the tides of life? Her original compositions and arrangements are paired with a blend of traditional and unconventional instrumentations, with a quintet of friends she met studying abroad at the Royal Academy of Music: Hoda Jahanpour (cello), Casey Whyte (violin), Gates on bass and voice, Scottie Thompson (piano), and Ananda Brandão (drums). This show will be taking place as part of Women in Jazz Media’s regular residencies at Karamel Club. We can’t wait to welcome Devon to the UK, and hope to see a lot of you there!
Since we met last year in New York, what have you been getting up to?
Since we met in New York in March of last year, a lot has happened! I’ve been going between Boston and NYC while pursuing a master’s degree through Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Institute, I’ve had the honor of playing with musicians I deeply admire like Vijay Iyer, Terri Lyne Carrington, Sara Serpa, and more, I’m getting close to finishing the writing process for my debut album, I’ve gotten to travel and play music with friends in Panama and India…definitely a lot of growing and developing as an artist, and as a person, finding my voice and building community at this stage in my life (I just turned 24 in February!). What feels important to me right now, is finding ways of using music as a connective force, as a way to organize people and imagine more loving, caring ways of being with each other, even if it’s just getting folks into a room together for a rehearsal, play, or gig who might not know each other before, or are from different parts of the music or arts community…these little moments of connection I believe are underestimated in their potential to change how people see themselves, and their relationship to others, in big ways. If any one person comes away from chatting or playing with me feeling just a little more hopeful than they did beforehand, that’s everything to me, and so that pursuit is what’s inspiring me to get up in the morning these days.
How would you describe the jazz scene right now in New York?
The jazz scene in New York is really multifaceted; a lot like London, I would say, in its massiveness and the way you can find folks playing a little bit of everything, inspired by so many wide-ranging influences, all coexisting and finding their own pockets and spaces. There are a lot of efforts I’ve been feeling inspired by to raise social consciousness in the community as well, like a fundraising concert for the Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance I was part of recently, organized by an amazing bassist and organizer Or Bareket. I see this as a continuation of the legacy of jazz music as a force for social change, from slavery to the US Civil Rights Movement, to right now. Seeing so many musicians, from Immanuel Wilkins to Jaleel Shaw to Vitor Gonçalves come together for a good cause, really reinforces the interdependency of any jazz community, whether in London or NY or anywhere – we cannot exist in a vacuum, and have both the responsibility and the opportunity to really try to take care of each other, in whatever form that may take.
Photo by Neri-Mastriani-Levi
What are your connections with London? And what was your experience playing here like?
I had barely been to London before I decided to study abroad at the Royal Academy for a fall term in my final year of undergraduate studies at Harvard, and to be honest I was surprised at how different it felt from the US, and from the “New England” I was familiar with in Boston (as I’m sure you could agree, thinking about your experiences spending time in the States!) It was never a dull moment, learning the dry, witty humour, the “language barrier” (crochets, semi-quavers…), trying beans for breakfast and mince pies, and exploring all the different little universes the city holds, from Tomorrow’s Warriors, Coven Jazz Nights, to Saturday afternoons with Julian Joseph, Jazz ReFreshed, little neighborhood pubs, and the energy of the London Jazz Festival. Of course, it’s cliche, but my favorite part of spending time there was the people I met who so graciously made me feel welcome and part of things here, even visiting for a short time. I miss them dearly, and I’m so excited to come back, even if just for a few days this time!
Can you tell us about your upcoming show at the Karamel and why you have chosen this line up?
I am very excited for this show at Karamel because it features a new set of music that I started writing actually for my coursework at RAM, and I feel it is influenced by the sounds I was introduced to here, Norma Winstone, Azimuth, ECM…but at the same time, with a strong sense of groove and soul and my own influences, from the musical Rent to Scott LaFaro and my experiences studying with Danilo Pérez at Berklee. This lineup specifically are all folks that I got the chance to get to know and to play with last time I was in London, and I really admire the sensitivity and fluidity that each of them brings to any musical situation – the project is called “Water Dancers” and I wanted to create a band that could really capture all the dimensions wrapped up in that sound – and who would be down to jump in and “be water” with me in the moment! What makes music fun for me is being able to ride the wave of whatever is happening in the present, and make each song feel completely different and new every time it’s played – I know I’d trust Ananda, Scottie, Casey, and Hoda to dive into that vulnerable and exciting space anytime, and am excited to do so on March 20th!
Can you tell us about your original music and your composition process?
Like I mentioned, this project is called “Water Dancers”, and to me each of the songs explore the connections between water and the ways it shows up in our lives – the title song I actually began composing from a melody I heard in my head on a Tube ride back from the Academy one night, singing it into my voice memos and saving it, eventually finishing it on a weekend trip to Lisbon with a dear friend a few weeks later (who suggested I call it “Lisboa”, its alternate title!)
The lyrics start “tell me love, do you remember our flowing with the tide, come as it goes?”, and to me, the entire set of music follows the ebb and flow of love as it changes with the tides of life. Each of the other pieces focuses on a different “memory” or aspect of this overarching theme, the narrative spotlighting the “perspective” of a different instrument in this unconventional instrumentation I’ve chosen: piano trio with strings (violin and cello). By thinking of instruments as “characters” in a sort of narrative setting, I hope to explore new ways of improvising and making space to express nuanced ideas in a way that cuts straight to the heart and emotion of a listener, and create an atmosphere, a little world between the musicians and audience that we can drop into together.
Where are you off to next?
Actually right after this show I’ll be headed to Bruges, Belgium to play with a dear friend Koen Gijsman and a wonderful chef in a pairing of music and food called “Let Us Cook”, which I’m very excited for – it’ll also be my first time in Belgium! And then headed back to the States, where I have some really intriguing projects in the works, including a premiere for a choral piece I’ve written that’s being performed by a professional choir in Chicago, recording a new project about ghosts, and some more touring in the future…I certainly hope to be back in London very soon!
Women in Jazz Media Presents: Devon Gates at Karamel Club, Thursday 20 March, 8pm
Get your tickets here: Devon at Karamel Club- March 20th, 8 pm
Last modified: March 16, 2025
