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Lafayette Gilchrist & New Volcanoes: Move With Love
by Ian Patterson
There is no escaping one's formative years when music--and much else--leaves an indelible mark, like a tattoo on the soul. For Lafayette Gilchrist, the jazz, hip-hop, funk and soul he imbibed growing up in Washington D.C. has been at the heart of New Volcanoes since its launch in 1993. In the intervening years, Baltimore-based Lafayette has slipped back and forth between New Volcanoes, solo piano and contemporary jazz ensembles of various sizes. Originally a sleek quartet, New Volcanoes' personnel and ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist: Move With Love
by Vincenzo Roggero
New Volcanoes è una delle creature musicali che rappresentano al meglio la visione musicale di Lafayette Gilchrist, pianista e compositore nato a Washington, D.C. nel 1967, a lungo nelle formazioni di David Murray, nuovo pianista nell'ultima Sun Ra Arkestra, grande conoscitore della cultura hip-hop, apprezzato autore della colonna sonora per l'acclamata serie televisiva The Wire. Formata nel 1993 come quartetto, nel corso degli anni New Volcanoes si è trasformata in una formazione a geometria variabile con nuovi musicisti ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist: Undaunted
by Pat Youngspiel
On Undaunted Washington D.C.-raised and Baltimore-educated pianist Lafayette Gilchrist continues his idiosyncratically swinging trajectory with deep grooves, memorable lines and the gritty, unapologetic type of interplay that first brought him international acclaim on the 2004 recording The Music According To Lafayette Gilchrist. Few will have forgotten the catchy track “Assume The Position" off that album, used prominently in the popular David Simon-produced series “The Wire." Some of the funkier, more electric bits in his writing have been replaced with a ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist, John McLaughlin, Cannonball Adderley and More
by Jerome Wilson
This is an older show from December 2021 that features several different pianists and saxophonists. Musicians heard include Lafayette Gilchrist, Cannonball Adderley, John McLaughlin, Noah Haidu, Chet Doxas, and more. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Lafayette Gilchrist “Dark Matter" from Dark Matter (Self Produced) 00:51 Noah Haidu “Steepian Faith" from Doctone (Sunnyside) 6:09 Host Speaks 13:24 Lucian Ban ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist: Undaunted
by Mike Jurkovic
Barn-burning, barrel-housing pianist Lafayette Gilchrist may or may not be known by everyone pretending to be hip and attuned or even by the rather rarefied company he has been known to keep--David Murray, Cassandra Wilson, Andrew Cyrille--but Undaunted is going to get him some much deserved attention. Abundant with cajones and plenty of rhythm, Undaunted captures the imagination and attention immediately. The title track percolates within a laid back groove that Gilchrist, an admitted admirer of Duke Ellington's ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist: Now
by Ian Patterson
For much of the 2010s, Baltimore-based pianist/composer Lafayette Gilchrist has looked to larger ensembles to give voice to his expansive arrangements. In fact, you have to go back to Three (Hyena, 2007) to find his previous trio outing. With Now, Gilchrist embraces a more intimate setting in the company of drummer Eric Kennedy and bassist Herman Burnie. It's a triumphant, grass-roots return that showcases the dazzling breadth and originality of Gilchrist's pianism and the enduring appeal of the piano trio ...
Continue ReadingLafayette Gilchrist: Now
by Franz A. Matzner
Pianist and composer Lafayette Gilchrist has made clear that, in part, Now addresses the racial and political conflicts erupting across America in 2020. The music is suitably intense and tumultuous. The album demands change while also reminding us that the violence and divisions splintering the country are not new. The repression and oppression embedded in American race relations has been pervasive for an unconscionably long time. Gilchrest pointedly underscores this through pieces like “Bmore Careful," which pulses forward ...
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