Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
Brad Mehldau Tells His Story
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
Bassist Chris Lightcap (third from right) merges his two working ensembles for SuperBigmouth, which is set for release Oct. 4 on Pyroclastic Records.
(Photo: Bradley Scott Rosen)Chris Lightcap’s compositional and performative dexterity stretches back to the ’90s, when he began working with some of New York’s best-known avant-gardists. A few folks who were gigging and recording with the bassist back then again congregate for SuperBigmough, a composite picture of the bandleader’s two regular ensembles that’s set for release Oct. 4 through Kris Davis’ Pyroclastic Records.
Splicing together Suprette—a group that last year issued a self-titled disc via The Royal Potato Family imprint—and Bigmouth, Lightcap’s sussed out the best of what electrified acts have to offer, as guitarists Curtis Hasselbring and Jonathan Goldberger trim the proceedings with some undeniably rockist intentions. That saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Gerald Cleaver are along for the session only hints at the level of musicianship captured here.
But for “Through Birds, Through Fire”—a tune named after a 1943 Yves Tanguy oil painting which debuts below—Lightcap’s nothing short of effusive over the contributions from another ensemble member.
“The opening section is made up of a bunch of different melodic fragments that eventually come together and serve as a springboard into Craig Taborn’s solo,” the bandleader began while explaining “Through Birds.” “[H]e takes one of the most compelling Hammond B3 organ solos I’ve ever heard, and throughout it you can feel how his playing drives and inspires the rest of us.”
For additional info about the album, visit the Pyroclastic website. DB
“Perhaps that’s a key to what makes me tick — a very strong curiosity, which makes me a perpetual fanboy of whatever I’m discovering,” Mehldau says.
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