Search - Kirk Lightsey :: Goodbye Mr Evans

A stunning effort by a genuine jazz master

08/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kirk Lightsey is perhaps one of the most under-appreciated jazz pianists working today. While he spent several years as accompanist to jazz legend Dexter Gordon, and is often mentioned in the same breath as such Detroit-bred jazz luminaries as Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, his work has rarely received the attention that it so richly deserves. Lightsey is a rarity among contemporary jazz pianists; unlike many of his younger rivals, he has a genuinely distinctive musical personality, one that shines through in everything he does. His touch is so delicate and caressing that it makes you want to cry, especially on ballads like "From Chopin to Chopin"; his phrasing, whether on medium tempo blues like "A New Blue" or up-tempo burners like "In Your Own Sweet Way," is so deft and playful that one can only marvel at his sense of rhythm; and his marvelously inventive and original solos sound like no one else's. This is a priceless recording by a master at the very top of his form - and it should be in every jazz lover's collection."