Live: Kirk Lightsey Trio

An ill-disciplined cacophony of honking and squawking. Hang on…no, they must be my review notes for the White Postmodern Farm Centre (you know, where the animals reject the hegemony of the ‘farmer’ – it’s utter anarchy). Just like the aforementioned Derrida-debating menagerie, though, Kirk Lightsey defies easy jazz categorisation. Having cut his teeth with Chet Baker, and schooled in hard bop, he is a true musical multilinguist, somehow fusing the gutsy stride of the Blues with the swooping lyricism of Classical, and emerging with a piano style at once reassuringly rooted in the familiar and refreshingly all of his own.

“You’re very privileged to be witnessing a live rehearsal” was Kirk’s understandably self-deprecatory reaction to the eleventh hour withdrawal of the bass player, but there was really nothing to apologise for. With little rehearsal and even less warning, Welsh reedman Lee Goodhall forewent his tea of lamb and laver bread to hot-foot it across the Anglo-Welsh border and complete the line-up (putting in a rollicking performance, I might add). 

With the clueless denizens of Arnold unable to direct Lee to the Bonington Theatre, the evening kicked off with a Lightsey original entitled ‘Habiba’ featuring Kirk on flute and Dave Wickens on (unspeakably exciting) drums. Kirk is as disarmingly, infectiously exuberant as he is bald, but I won’t segue into the obligatory biography, I’m sure any of you sufficiently interested will employ your ‘google glands’ to that effect. (see here - ed)

Dave Wickens - click image for the gallery

I was immediately struck by Dave Wickens’ drum...kit?...sculpture?...either way, a marvellous ‘Heath Robinson’ affair. Like some curious splicing of Chick Webb, an eccentric conjuror and an inquisitive savant child, Dave’s endlessly inventive approach to percusion was a delight and revelation to experience, at least for this drummer/reviewer. Whilst totting up the number of things available to him to hit, I lost count at around twenty five. At one point, assuming that he intended to drink the glass of water he was pouring, I was fair amused to see it used in yet another percussive experiment.

Lee Goodhall popped out from the wings with a risably tiddly kiddy-size sax around his neck, just in time for the second number of the night, ‘Goodbye Mr Evans’, Kirk’s self-penned tribute to “Gil, Bill, Herschel, and actually anyone called 'Evans' ”. (With a line-up of piano, drums and saxaphone, at times tonight’s trio put me in mind of Thelonious Monk’s outings with Charlie Rouse and Ben Riley). Kirk’s solo hinted at the stride style of the barrelhouse, but positively oozed the loose, European lyricism of Bill Evans.

 This meshing of piano idioms cropped up later, with a bouncy, swung take on ‘All Blues’ from Kind of Blue, the magnum opus of the largely forgotten horn-botherer, one Mr Miles Davis (joke! I heart Miles). Kirk’s utterly joyous, thumping, free-wheeling solos were beautifully tracked through every twist and turn by Dave Wickens’ relentlessly inventive drumming, whilst the awesome interlocking of ‘keys’ and ‘skins’ was reflected in the unfettered delight radiating from Kirk’s face at the end of each piece.


Other stand-out numbers were ‘Pee Wee’, written by drumming wunderkind Tony Williams (for his dog, no less), and a dazzlingly lush, soporific version of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Infant Eyes’. The sense of joy from the performers was palpable, and the elan of the bop playing, particularly one gospel-tinged number redolent of Ramsey Lewis, was just captivating. Impressive.

The Kirk Lightsey trio played at the Bonington theatre Arnold on 25th October 2007 as part of Nottingham's Jazz Steps programme.

Jazz Steps is run by a dedicated bunch of folk whose mission of bringing top class jazz acts to Nottingham means we get all sorts of quality offerings at the Lakeside Arts Centre and the Bonington Theatre. Did I mention it's cheap as chips if you're a student or 'young person'? well it is yer spawny gets, only five paaand...

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