64 JAZZTIMES SEPTEMBER 2019
Musical Epiphanies
Musical epiphanies are moments in my own listening experience that
have inspired me to create. These recordings are directly or indirectly
responsible for the path I’ve chosen in music. They could be divided up
two ways: The first are things I heard that encouraged my own sense
of compositional adventure. The second just made me want to play for
hours and hours. LAFAYETTE GILCHRISTJimmy Yancey
“The Fives”
Single (Solo Art, 1939)When I was a student at the University of Maryland, Bal-
timore County, and I first started trying to tinker around
with the piano, I would invariably divide my time between
half-assedly attending classes and spending the bulk of
my time in the piano rooms and the library, where I could
access anything I wanted. I first encountered this tune on
a compilation album and I was in love. The beat made me
want to go to where that was coming from. I could not artic-
ulate it. I can’t hardly articulate it now, but it really moved
me.Duke Ellington X
“Solitude”
Ellington Indigos (Columbia, 1958)I was always the type of kid
who, if I heard old people
talking, I’d try to listen
to what they were saying,
especially if they were talking
in low tones, like they were
serious. [A relative] would
talk about Duke Ellington
that way, and about Basie and Monk. He kind of mythologized
them in my mind. Later I would take my little spare change
from doing landscaping work and go to the record store. Not
knowing anything about jazz, I would buy the records based
on the cover art. I bought Ellington Indigos, and the first thing
I put on was “Solitude.” He’s playing the piano out front and
sounds like he’s in a room by himself, and it sounds huge and
beautiful and from another world. It just burst me into tears,
man. I couldn’t believe it.Henry Threadgill
“Paper Toilet”
Too Much Sugar for a Dime (Axiom, 1993)To have multiple pockets going on with that kind of instru-
mentation, and it’s extended compositionally and it’s interest-
ing—it’s a trip. It’s got to be a trip to hold me, and that’s cer- TOBIAS^ MUGGTHEMATIC PLAYLISTS CREATED BY PLAYERS AND SINGERSBaltimore-based pianist/composer Lafayette Gilchrist leads the
genre-defying ensembles the New Volcanoes and the Sonic Trip
Masters All Stars and is a member of the adventurous trio Inside
Out. He has toured extensively with David Murray and performed
with Cassandra Wilson, Macy Gray, Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille,
Orrin Evans, Hamid Drake, and William Parker. His compositions
have graced the soundtracks of The Wire, The Deuce, and Treme.
His latest solo recording is Dark Matter (Lafayette Music).« For more of Gilchrist’s picks, visit JazzTimes.comtainly a trip. I really admire him, as a composer, conceptually.
This was another [I bought for] the record cover. If you’ve ever
seen that album cover, it’s like, Oh man, what the fuck is this?Fats Waller
“Smashing Thirds”
Smashing Thirds (RCA Victor, 1968; recorded for Victor, 1929)I discovered this around the same time that I discovered Jimmy
Yancey. I think it was on the same disc. He’s just irresistible on
so many levels, and then the technical prowess. I could never
play “Smashing Thirds.” It would smash the thirds out of me. I
marvel at his technique, his touch, his humor, his beauty. And
with the technical prowess is also the warmth of his feel and his
beat, which is just irresistible.Cecil Taylor
“After All No. 2”
Silent Tongues (Freedom, 1974)It’s hard to talk about Cecil in short sentences. I really want-
ed [to choose] the whole record, Silent Tongues, but that last
piece was such a summary of the themes and the call-and-
response. To me that’s one of his most seamless perfor-
mances. That last movement, you hear him thread together
and summarize the entire concept but he puts it almost in
a John Coltrane-ish “After the Rain” peaceful place. I love
Cecil Taylor for the sheer beauty of his adventure.ARTIST'S CHOICE
[as told to Jeff Tamarkin]x Profile: Lafayette Gilchrist in 2004