Kirk Lightsey
Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born February 15, 1937 in Detroit ) is an American pianist and composer of modern jazz .
Live and act
Kirk Lightsey had piano lessons as a child and also studied clarinet at school and college . Earl Hines , Fats Waller and Duke Ellington were among his musical role models from this period . He accompanied traveling stars in clubs, performed while serving in the US Army a. a. with Cannonball Adderley and came to New York with Melba Liston , where he worked for Ernestine Anderson . He later went back to Detroit and accompanied many pop singers in the Motown studios, but also worked with jazz musicians such as Yusef Lateef , Dexter Gordon , Betty Carter , and later also with Pharoah Sanders , Bobby Hutcherson , Sonny Stitt and Kenny Burrell . From 1979 to 1983 he was a member of Dexter Gordons Band, otherwise mostly worked as a freelance musician.
Since the 1980s he recorded a number of albums under his own name; thus a duo production with Wayne Shorter compositions was created with Harold Danko in 1984 . Kirk Lightsey also performed often as a solo pianist. He was also a member of The Leaders formation , which also included Lester Bowie , Arthur Blythe , Chico Freeman , Cecil McBee and Famoudou Don Moye . With his rhythm section he formed the Leaders Trio . In the 1980s he was the accompanist for recordings on the Criss Cross Jazz label by Jimmy Raney , Peter Leitch , Brian Lynch and Clifford Jordan .
Kirk Lightsey belongs to the generation of neo-bop and new traditionalism pianists who play in the tradition of McCoy Tyner . Lightsey describes himself as a pianist who combines a Bud Powell awareness, an Art Tatum styling, a bebop feeling and a pianistic conception . He is therefore in the immediate vicinity of Hank Jones or Tommy Flanagan .
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Kirk_Lightsey_Don_Moye_Trio_05.jpg/220px-Kirk_Lightsey_Don_Moye_Trio_05.jpg)
Selection discography
Recordings as a leader
- 1983 - Kirk Lightsey / Harold Danko Shorter by Two (Sunnyside)
- 1983 - Kirk Lightsey Trio with Chet Baker Everything Happens to Me ( Timeless )
- 1985 - Lightsey Live (Sunnyside)
- 1986 Everything Is Changed (Sunnyside)
- 1986 - Kirk Lightsey Quintet featuring Marcus Belgrave - Kirk 'N' Marcus (Criss Cross)
- 1987 - Temptation (Timeless) with Freddie Hubbard
- 1990 - From Kirk to Nat
- 1993 - Isotopes (Criss Cross, rec. 1983–1991)
- 2004 - The Nights of Bradley's (Sunnyside) with Rufus Reid
- 2006 - Estate (Itinera)
- 2008 - Louise Gibbs & Kirk Lightsey Everybody's Song But Our Own (33 Records)
- 2008 - Lightsey To Gladden (Criss Cross Jazz)
- 2015 - Tibor Elekes , Don Moye, Kirk Lightsey Le Corbu ( Unit Records )
- 2017 - Marilena Paradisi & Kirk Lightsey Some Place Called Where (Losen Records)
Recordings as a sideman
- Chet Baker: Groovin ', Comin', Cool Burnin ', Boppin' with the Chet Baker Quintet (Prestige, 1965)
- Jeri Brown : Unfolding the Peacocks (1992)
- Sonny Fortune : Monk's Mood (Konnex, 1993)
- Louis Hayes : The Super Quartet (Timeless, 1994)
- Clifford Jordan: Two Tenor Winner (Criss Cross, 1984)
- Harold Land: Mapunzi (Concord, 1977)
- The Leaders: Mudfoot (Black Saint, 1986)
- Peter Leitch: Red Zone (Reservoir, 1984/88)
- Bryan Lynch: Peer Pressure (Criss Cross, 1986)
- Jimmy Raney: The Master (Criss Cross, 1983)
- Jim Pepper : Dakota Song (Enja), The Path (Enja)
- Sahib Shihab : It Couldn't Happen Without You (Soul Note, 1984)
- Woody Shaw : Solid (Camden, 1974-1987)
literature
- Joachim Ernst Berendt and Günther Huesmann: The Jazz Book - Revised by Günther Huesmann . Frankfurt / M., Fischer Verlag.
- Martin Kunzler : Jazz-Lexikon , Reinbek, Rowohlt, 1988.
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002.
Web links
- Kirk Lightsey at Allmusic (English)
- Kirk Lightsey at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Lightsey, Kirk |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lightsey, Kirkland |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist and composer |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 15, 1937 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Detroit |