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Jazz Articles about Kitt Lyles
Emily Kuhn: Ghosts of Us
by Jerome Wilson
Emily Kuhn is a trumpet player from Chicago with a calm, lyrical tone whose music is influenced by the folk and classical worlds as well as jazz. That shows up strongly on the track In Lieu of Certainty, Movement" here, where pianist Meghan Stagl keeps a rippling neo-classical melody going while Kuhn and guitarist Erik Skov solo in front of her with ever-increasing force and purpose. When The World Is Young" begins with lovely drifting Spanish guitar from Skov before ...
read moreMatt Peterson: Better Worlds
by Hrayr Attarian
Chicago pianist Matt Peterson is a versatile artist who defies genres. He is both an accomplished, bop-based improviser as well as a sensitive interpreter of the Western classical tradition. Both elements of his style come together on the exuberant and captivating Better Worlds, a collection of 10 of his originals as well as a unique arrangement of The Beatles' Blackbird." One of the highlights of the uniformly superb album is Petrichor," which opens with Peterson's smoldering chords that ...
read moreKitt Lyles: Real Talk
by Edward Blanco
An active performer and educator in the Chicago jazz community, young bassist Kitt Lyles is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Jazz Studies and has performed in venues throughout North America, Latin America and Asia. A sideman on various other recordings, Lyles introduces his debut recording as leader on Real Talk presenting eight original compositions of the contemporary nature. The bassist surrounds himself with a core quintet of Chicago-area musicians, all educators and leaders in ...
read moreKitt Lyles: Real Talk
by Mark Sullivan
For his debut recording bassist/composer Kitt Lyles draws on his love for the jazz tradition, as well as southern folk and blues. A South Carolina native now residing in Chicago, he leads a working sextet (with one additional player on two tracks) through a varied program of originals. The title tune is built on a vamp, with guitarist Hans Luchs and tenor saxophonist Roy McGrath opening, joined by the trumpeter Justin Copeland. Snowfall On Carolina" is an upbeat swing tune, ...
read moreKitt Lyles: Real Talk
by Jack Bowers
Real Talk is the debut album for young South Carolina-bred bassist Kitt Lyles who earned a degree in Jazz Studies from Northwestern University in 2013. As all the compositions are Lyles,' its success rests as much on his skills as a writer as his serving as a beacon for the sextet's able rhythm section. How does Lyles fare as a composer / arranger? Quite well, actually. His colorful themes, while a stride or two short of memorable, are by and ...
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