LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST
The Music According To Lafayette Gilchrist

Hyena

Read the Jazzitude review of Lafayette Gilchrist/3
Review the Jazzitude review of Lafayette Gilchrist/Towards the Shining Path

Ornette Coleman by way of David Murray meets hip-hop Monk…no, that’s not quite it. The church-driven groove of Mingus combined with the modern sense of the absurd of Zappa…no, not quite right, either. The Music According to Lafayette Gilchrist is both all of these things and, conversely, none of these things. Because Gilchrist is a true original, the way that Monk, Mingus, Zappa, and Ornette were. He was molded by his musical environment, which is what we expect, but his musical environment is not that of the typical jazzer. Gilchrist is a self-described old school hip-hop guy, a self-trained pianist whose first exposure to the music of Herbie Hancock was the prototypical turntable scratching record, “Rockit.” What, did you think no one who grew up as part of Gilchrist’s generation would be interested in playing instrumental music, let alone something approaching jazz? Yet here he is, blazing his own path through modern improvisational music, refusing to believe the myth of separate and distinct black musical styles that don’t (or shouldn’t be) mix(ed).

The title of Gilchrist’s Hyena Records release, The Music According to Lafayette Gilchrist, says it all. The Music. THE MUSIC…meaning black American music, music that grew (and continues to grow) directly from the experience of being black in America. That includes ragtime, traditional New Orleans jazz, bebop, swing, free jazz, fusion, funk, rock, gospel, R&B, soul, hip-hop, electronica, whatever…it explicitly rejects any miniscule pigeonhole with its expansiveness: The Music.

Gilchrist grew up in Washington, D.C., a city heavily steeped in hip-hop and Go Go music. Go Go never quite exploded out of D.C. onto the national scene, but it didn’t escape the notice of, among others, Miles Davis, whose late 1980s groups included a couple of musicians familiar with the D.C. go go scene. That music’s influence can be heard on Davis’ Amandla album as well as live performances. Go Go and hip hop were the musical styles that Gilchrist knew backwards and forward. Now living in Baltimore, where he fronts his explosive (pun intended) band the Volcanoes, he insists that this is the sound of Baltimore, and he is hoping to get the rest of the country (and the world) to listen.

The first words that come to mind when hearing Gilchrist’s music are percussive, powerful, muscular, aggressive. And these words do apply. But the more one listens that more one hears other aspects—a sense of humor, a kind of elegance not heard since the heyday of Ellington. It’s music that looks back and forward the way Ellington’s often managed to. For example, though there is a modern sensibility at work on much of the music here, there is a definite helping of the New Orleans second line street band influence as well. It feels like music that says, ‘come together. This stuff can be sitting side by side and it will fit together beautifully.’

Both the opener, “Assume the Position” or the second track, “Baltimore’s Belly” offer horn lines that seem to descend angularly in a somewhat deflated fashion to be met with sidewalk-hard slabs of rhythm juggernaut. But there are differences between the tunes as well—Gilchrist’s piano work on the second track offer bluesy embellishments that just aren’t on display in the previous tune. I would expect that by the end of the third track, “Rumble,” most listeners would either be completely hooked on Gilchrist’s sound or completely repulsed by it. This isn’t really a middle of the road group and will likely provoke a reaction, positive or negative, in even the most jaded listener. “Rumble” offers a very deep, very dark rhythm groove, while saxophonist John Dierker blows away into the night. His solo is followed up by a lengthy section of loping rhythm section punctuated by horn stabs until finally Mike Cerri breaks out with a muted trumpet solo.

The second half of the record is actually somewhat more varied than the first half, so listeners not digging the CD initially may want to try tracks five through eight first. “For Vince Loving” is a ballad dedicated to the group’s original bassist, who passed away and was replaced by Erve Madden (both Loving and Madden are heard in various tracks on this CD). Here Gilchrist sometimes has Monk-like bursts of balladry that are in stark contrast to his more aggressive approach on the funkier numbers. “The Return of Jess Grew” does feature elements of the group’s signature sound, but the horn arrangement is so good and the piano work so distinctive that most listeners will find it refreshing. “Coded Sources” is a nice atmospheric workout that demonstrates how much Loving contributed to the group. And the album’s closer, “New Be Bop” is completely unlike anything else on the recording. Here Gilchrist is able to combine a big band-sounding post-bop chart with a small group aesthetic that introduces a newer, funkier element yet never succumbs to trendiness or the desire to combine things for the sake of combining them. It points the way towards Gilchrist’s future, and I have little doubt that his future will have some influence on the future of The Music (writ large) as well.