Label: Jojo Records, 2021
Personnel - Kirk Lightsey: piano.
The veteran Detroit-born pianist Kirk Lightsey who played with the legendary trumpeter Chet Baker and saxophonist Dexter Gordon, among many others, returns to the solo format with greater adherence to affection. Here, he devours not only post-bop tunes from Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams, but also an iconic hard-bop piece by Coltrane, a ballad penned by Phil Woods and another one he wrote himself and whose name gave this album its title. It’s worth to mention that all seven tunes were previously recorded by the pianist, most of them solo.
His sole composition to appear on this recording, the ballad “I’Will Never Stop Loving You”, can also be found on the 1993 reissue of his Isotope album (Criss Cross Jazz). Here, Lightsey shapes it with profound tenderness while exploring the timbral richness of his instrument.
The passion for the music of Wayne Shorter was evident in the early stages of his career, and he gives new interpretations to “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum”, tackled with plenty of staccato moves as well as nimble phrasing and bluesy bends, “Infant Eyes”, whose interpretive soulfulness and abandon underscore his affinity for space and presence, and “Wild Flower”, which concludes the album with pulchritude and heart.
Coltrane’s “Giant Step” is not exceptional, and Tony Williams’ “Pee Wee” carries that type of disorienting harmonies that lets us afloat. Yet, “Goodbye Mr. Evans”, written by the versatile altoist Phil Woods in 1981 after the death of pianist Bill Evans, takes us from the haunting bass note that opens the tune to the harmonic webs traced by Lightsey with such a tactful sympathy.
Despite having in mind that every rendition brings something new to the setting, this work gives the impression to be a surplus addition to the reliable pianist’s discography.
B-
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum ► 04 - Infant Eyes ► 05 - Goodbye Mr. Evans