Chris Lightcap

[Guy Berger]

Hi all,

I have been thinking of picking up a Chris Lightcap album.

I see he has 4 recordings under his name:

1. Lay-up (Fresh Sound, 2000) with Tony Malaby, Bill McHenry and Gerald Cleaver
2. Bigmouth (Fresh Sound, 2003) with Malaby, McHenry and Cleaver
3. Deluxe (Clean Feed, 2010) with Malaby, Chris Cheek, Andrew D'Angelo, Craig Taborn and Cleaver
4. Epicenter (Clean Feed, 2015) with Malaby, Cheek, Taborn & Cleaver

Which one is the best?

[jlhoots]

I have 2. & 4.. They're both very nice IMO.

[xybert]

I have the three most recent. Deluxe is my favourite by far.

[clifford_thornton]

On 12/15/2016 at 4:34 PM, xybert said:

I have the three most recent. Deluxe is my favourite by far.

that was the one I remember liking in particular too.

[Guy Berger]

So far I've listened to the first 3.  My quick takes:

Lay-Up has some fun compositions and the band is great, but a bit generic.  3 stars out of 5.

Big Mouth is much stronger, especially in terms of memorable compositions.  4 stars out of 5.

Deluxe is great.  Great compositions, and Taborn's presence lifts things to a higher level.  5 stars out of 5.

[Rabshakeh]

Some great players on these. I don't know them so will give them a go too.

[Guy Berger]

I picked up the Lightcap album SUPERBIGMOUTH, which combines the Bigmouth group (Cleaver, Taborn, Malaby, Lightcap, Cheek) w/the Superette group (two guitarists and another drummer).  Released on the Pyroclastic label which I believe is run by pianist Kris Davis.

The music is very enjoyable. More rock oriented than Bigmouth as you can imagine, at times a bit of an homage to the best of 70s fusion.  (The first track is called “Through Birds, Through Fire” which I assume is a Mahavishnu homage? Though the intro also reminds me of “Neal & Jack & Me” by King Crimson - those interlocking dual guitars.)

I wouldn’t put it quite at the same level as the two Clean Feed albums (Deluxe and Epicenter) but is better IMHO than the two Fresh Sound albums. Worth picking up if you like Lightcap’s work.