Lafayette Gilchrist: Dark Matter

Listen to enough music of all kinds, and after a while you can tell pretty quickly if there’s anything really happening on a particular disc. It took me just a few seconds of listening to pianist Lafayette Gilchrist’s solo album Dark Matter, to realize that I was in for a real treat. Gilchrist’s musical associates have included Oliver Lake, Hamid Drake, Carl Grubbs, and, crucially, David Murray as a member of his Black Saint Quartet. This is his second solo effort, after 2012's The View From Here. He’s heard here in concert at the University of Baltimore, his home town. Gilchrist starts the set with For the Go-Go, a blues in tribute to the Washington, DC/Baltimore go-go music scene he grew up with. The pianist is smoking and stomping from the start, and all I can say is that virtually any jazz fan will be happy to just sit back and let Gilchrist take you into his confidence as his original compositions roll over you. The finely detailed recording by Gilchrist’s co-producer Wendell Patrick captures his rich piano sound and his close attention to the dynamics of a tune. There are hints of both Monk and Bud Powell in his piano style, along with occasional forays into free territory. Gilchrist is continually harking back to earlier pianists like Earl Hines, Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Duke Ellington, with his left hand particularly active for a modern player. Gilchrist really has it all: a highly individual touch, a powerful rhythmic drive, a deep affinity for the blues, appealing compositions, and the ability to play the hell out of them. There are a number of jarring edits between songs that mar the flow of the music, but aside from that, Dark Matter is a genuine triumph, and one of the albums of the year so far. Don’t miss it.
Lafayette Gilchrist Music CDcds 005; Lafayette Gilchrist (p); Baltimore, MD, September 18, 2016; For the Go-Go/ Child’s Play/ Dark Matter/ The Love Bind/ Spontaneous Combustion/ And You Know/ Blues for Our Marches to End/ Old Whale Bones/ Happy Birthday Sucker/ Black Flight/ Greetings; 67:59. www.lafayettegilchristmusic.com