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Lafayette Gilchrist

“Lafayette Gilchrist lives in Baltimore but grew up in D.C., knee-deep in the city's go-go music and hip-hop. Go-go dance beats inform his piano the same way freight-train boogie-woogie does. Players like EubieBlake, James P. Johnson and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith could keep going for hours without exhausting their folkloric materials. If there's one thing Lafayette Gilchrist loves, it's feeding a groove like that. There's something trance-inducing about dance music in general, and in the textured patterns that Lafayette Gilchrist plays at the keyboard. His two-handed piano also has techno and minimalism behind it. It's not just about the notes; it's also about the waves in which they come, and the troughs in between.” Kevin Whitehead-NPR Fresh Air

Lafayette Gilchrist leads the New Volcanoes and the Sonic Trip Masters All Stars. Gilchrist's bands are genre-defying; featuring a propulsive rhythm section and a dynamic horn line, which never fails to raise the roof. His solo work and trio Inside Out invite adventurous ears everywhere.

While steadily leading his Baltimore-based bands with a progressive stream of new music, Lafayette Gilchrist toured with David Murray in his octet and quartets for 13 years. During his time with Murray, he has performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival, recorded on Murray’s Sacred Ground EP for the National Hungarian Radio and Television, and played the Winter Jazz Festival and Vision Jazz Festival in NYC to name a few. He has performed with notable artists such as Carl Grubbs, David Murray, Cassandra Wilson, Macy Gray, Oliver Lake, Marshall Keys, Orrin Evans, Paul Dunmall, Allyn Johnson, TK Blue, Robert Shahid, Alan Blackman, Hamid Drake, William Parker, Michael Formanek, Tarus Mateen and many more. His compositions, Assume the Positionand Coded Sources, are a part of the original score for David Simon’s The Wire and Treme, respectively. Gilchrist was a recipient of the 2009 Independent Music Award for Best Album-Jazz for Soul Progressin’. Gilchrist was also a recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Maryland Traditions Master/Apprentice award in which he mentored Ethan Simon in 2010.

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Radio & Podcasts

Lafayette Gilchrist, John McLaughlin, Cannonball Adderley and More

Read "Lafayette Gilchrist, John McLaughlin, Cannonball Adderley and More" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Lafayette Gilchrist: Undaunted

Read "Undaunted" reviewed 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 ...

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Album Review

Lafayette Gilchrist: Now

Read "Now" reviewed 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 ...

5
Album Review

Lafayette Gilchrist: Now

Read "Now" reviewed 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 ...

4
Album Review

Lafayette Gilchrist: Now

Read "Now" reviewed by Geno Thackara


In some alternate world somewhere, Lafayette Gilchrist is a great modern American novelist, spinning real-life stories that vividly evoke the spirit of the times. In our world, he ended up as a comparable spirit doing the same thing in the music realm instead. His piano playing nonetheless criss-crosses the span of jazz, blues, funk, gospel, ragtime, boogie and much else besides, weaving all manner of familiar elements in the way other storytellers would thread recognizable slices of life into their ...

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Multiple Reviews

Three Rounds of Solo Piano

Read "Three Rounds of Solo Piano" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Diogo Vida Inner Dance Self Produced 2020 The isolation album has sprung up as a new genre practically overnight—an unfortunate if unavoidable development in the season of Covid-19. If Diogo Vida is one among many in that regard, at least where quantity is concerned, he also stands alone in having a quality all his own. This outing makes a candid snapshot of an unusual time, having been recorded over one day near the beginning of ...

5
Album Review

Lafayette Gilchrist: Dark Matter

Read "Dark Matter" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


It would seem almost impossible by this point for a jazz pianist to avoid common modern influences like Bud Powell, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner or even Cecil Taylor, but somehow Lafayette Gilchrist falls outside all of those parameters. On this solo concert recorded at the University of Baltimore in 2016, he shows a keyboard style built on materials like stride, gospel and go-go, the infectious party music from the Baltimore-Washington DC area, all turned into its own unique sound.

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Performance / Tour

Sat., October 10: Lafayette Gilchrist Celebrates 'Now' With Livestream Album Release Concert Presented By Creative Alliance

Sat., October 10: Lafayette Gilchrist Celebrates 'Now' With Livestream Album Release Concert Presented By Creative Alliance

Source: Braithwaite & Katz Communications

Pianist, composer and bandleader extraordinaire Lafayette Gilchrist returns to the trio format on his engrossing, self-released double disc, NOW, the follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed solo piano album, Dark Matter, which many critics cited as one of 2019’s best jazz releases. Gilchrist will celebrate with a livestream album release concert on Saturday, October 10, 8 p.m. EDT presented by Creative Alliance in Baltimore, Joining him are his trio mates from his band Specials Revealed, bassist Herman Burney and drummer ...

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Recording

Lafayette Gilchrist to Release "Soul Progressin,'" Announces East Coast Shows

Lafayette Gilchrist to Release "Soul Progressin,'" Announces East Coast Shows

Source: All About Jazz

LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST & THE NEW VOLCANOES New Album SOUL PROGRESSIN' Available September 9 East Coast Shows To Follow

“...the heir to Thelonious Monk." - Entertainment Weekly

“Imagine pianist Billy Preston in the FBI witness protection program; he hides out in the Washington, DC, go-go scene and then the jazz underground; he invents an unlikely pseudonym to go with his new style: a sort of twisted, funky, neo-juke-joint avant-gut-bucket." - Detroit Metro Times

“...it's Gilchrist's ...

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Festival

18th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival: Holly Cole, Lafayette Gilchrist and Spanish Harlem Orchestra

18th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival: Holly Cole, Lafayette Gilchrist and Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Source: All About Jazz

Arlington, Va - Praised among our region's standout jazz festivals by JazzTimes magazine, the 18th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival takes place on Saturday (12:30pm - 7:00pm), September 6, 2008, at Gateway Park, 1300 Lee Hwy (N. Lynn St. & Lee Hwy), in Arlington, Virginia (just across Key Bridge from Georgetown, 2 blocks from Rosslyn Metro Station). The event features yet another powerful lineup, including versatile vocalist Holly Cole - Canada's 2008 Juno Awardee for “Best Jazz Album"; Grammy Award-winning Salsa ...

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Performance / Tour

Lafayette Gilchrist at Chris' Jazz Cafe on September 21

Lafayette Gilchrist at Chris' Jazz Cafe on  September 21

Source: All About Jazz


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Recording

Lafayette Gilchrist "Three" on Hyena Records

Lafayette Gilchrist "Three" on Hyena Records

Source: All About Jazz

"Imagine pianist Billy Preston in the FBI witness protection program; he hides out in the Washington, DC, go-go scene and then the jazz underground; he invents an unlikely pseudonym to go with his new style: a sort of twisted, funky, neo-juke-joint avant-gut-bucket." - Detroit Metro Times

In March 2007, pianist Lafayette Gilchrist opened the Banlieues Bleues Festival in Paris, France with a set of solo piano. He was the under-card that night on a bill with the legendary Allen Toussaint. ...

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Recording

Lafayette Gilchrist Heads 'Towards the Shining Path' on HYENA Records

Lafayette Gilchrist Heads 'Towards the Shining Path' on HYENA Records

Source: All About Jazz

"Imagine pianist Billy Preston in the FBI witness protection program; he hides out in the Washington, D.C. go-go scene and then the jazz underground; he invents an unlikely pseudonym to go with his new style: a sort of twisted, funky, neo-juke-joint avant-gut-bucket." - W. Kim Heron, Detroit Metro Times

“This Baltimore jazz pianist is young enough to root his improvisations in funk rhythms rather than swing, but he's smart enough to give those muscular grooves real melodies and ...

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Performance / Tour

Lafayette Gilchrist Returns To Zanzibar Blue Feb. 18 & 19 in Philadelphia

Lafayette Gilchrist Returns To Zanzibar Blue Feb. 18 & 19 in Philadelphia

Source: All About Jazz

LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST Back By Popular Demand For A Weekend Engagement February 18th & 19th At Zanzibar Blue

In support of his debut album, The Music According to Lafayette Gilchrist

“Rhythms slide from slow strutting blues to staccato hip-hop breaks. Horn sections burst like big-band blossoms only to splinter into wide-screen free-fall soloing. The bass and drums kick up a funky mettle behind Gilchrist's wiggly lines, which hopscotch from stride to vamp to spacey tangents to tight ...

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Performance / Tour

Lafayette Gilchrist in Philadelphia @ Chris' Jazz Cafe / Friday, September 10th

Lafayette Gilchrist in Philadelphia @ Chris' Jazz Cafe / Friday, September 10th

Source: All About Jazz

“Rhythms slide from slow strutting blues to staccato hip-hop breaks. Horn sections burst like big-band blossoms only to splinter into wide-screen free-fall soloing. The bass and drums kick up a funky mettle behind Gilchrist's wiggly lines, which hopscotch from stride to vamp to spacey tangents to tight motifs all before you know what's going on. It's a beyond-genre force that runs you over and leaves you flattened with a smile." - Baltimore City Paper

Lafayette Gilchrist is a rising star ...

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Recording

Lafayette Gilchrist Signs With HYENA / Debut Album Available June 29th

Lafayette Gilchrist Signs With HYENA / Debut Album Available June 29th

Source: All About Jazz

His Debut Album, THE MUSIC ACCORDING TO LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST Set For Release on June 29th, 2004

New York, NY - The American jazz tradition has produced an array of legendary pianists/composers over the years whose larger-than-life names are perfectly suited for their superior talents: Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Bud Powell, Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Horace Tapscott, to name but a few. Add to that list, Lafayette Gilchrist, the Baltimore-based artist who will make his national recording debut on ...

"...the heir to Thelonious Monk.” — Entertainment Weekly

“Imagine pianist Billy Preston in the FBI witness protection program; he hides out in the Washington, D.C., go-go scene and then the jazz underground; he invents an unlikely pseudonym to go with his new style: a sort of twisted, funky, neo-juke-joint avant-gut-bucket." — Detroit Metro Times

“...it's Gilchrist’s cussed willingness to continually put a Baltimore-centric stamp on jazz that has made him the city's most respected pianist.” — Baltimore City Paper

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Undaunted

Morphius Records
2023

buy

Now

Lafayette Music
2020

buy

Dark Matter

Lafayette Music
2019

buy

Sharing the Shed

BMC Music
2010

buy

Soul Progressin'

Hyena Records
2008

buy

Three

Hyena Records
2007

buy

Metropolitan Musings (Them Streets Again)

From: Undaunted
By Lafayette Gilchrist

The Wonder of Being Here

From: Now
By Lafayette Gilchrist

For The Go Go

From: Dark Matter
By Lafayette Gilchrist

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