Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born 15 February 1937),
is an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
pianist.
Biography
Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After serving in the army, Lightsey worked in Detroit and California in the 1960s as an accompanist to singers. He also worked with jazz musicians such as
Yusef Lateef
Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in the United States.
Although Lateef's main i ...
,
Betty Carter,
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...
,
Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note Records, Blue Note album ''Components (album), Components'', is one of his best-known composi ...
,
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...
,
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
, and
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...
. From 1979 to 1983 he toured with
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...
and was a member of
The Leaders in the late 1980s. During the 1980s he led several sessions of his own, including duets with pianist
Harold Danko.
He is also an accomplished
flutist
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
and occasionally doubles on flute in live performances. He has been living in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
since 2000.
Discography
As leader
* ''Habiba'' (
Gallo, 1974) with Rudolph Johnson
* ''
Lightsey 1'' (
Sunnyside, 1983)
* ''
Isotope
Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...
'' (
Criss Cross, 1983)
* ''
Everything Happens to Me'' (
Timeless, 1983) with
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
* ''
Shorter by Two'' (Sunnyside, 1983) with
Harold Danko
* ''
Lightsey 2'' (Sunnyside, 1984)
* ''
Lightsey Live'' (Sunnyside, 1985)
* ''
First Affairs'' (
Limetree, 1986)
* ''
Everything Is Changed'' (Sunnyside, 1986)
* ''
Kirk 'n Marcus'' (Criss Cross, 1986) with
Marcus Belgrave
* ''
From Kirk to Nat'' (Criss Cross, 1990)
* ''
Goodbye Mr. Evans'' (
Evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...
, 1994)
* ''
The Nights of Bradley's'' (Sunnyside, 1984
004
* ''Estate'' (Itinera, 2006)
* ''Everybody’s Song But Our Own'' (33 Records, 2008) with
Louise Gibbs
* ''Lightsey To Gladden'' (Criss Cross Jazz, 2008)
* ''Le Corbu'' (
Unit Records, 2015) with
Tibor Elekes,
Don Moye
* ''Some Place Called Where'' (
Losen Records, 2017) with
Marilena Paradisi
* ''Coltrane Revisited'' (SteepleChase LookOut ,2021)
As sideman
With
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
* ''
Smokin' with the Chet Baker Quintet'' (
Prestige
Prestige may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
*Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband
*The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...
, 1965)
* ''
Groovin' with the Chet Baker Quintet'' (Prestige, 1965)
* ''
Comin' On with the Chet Baker Quintet'' (Prestige, 1965)
* ''
Cool Burnin' with the Chet Baker Quintet'' (Prestige, 1965)
* ''
Boppin' with the Chet Baker Quintet'' (Prestige, 1965)
With
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...
* ''
Sky Street'' (
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
, 1975)
With Agostino Di Giorgio
* ''The Path'' (Fonò, 2001)
With
Ricky Ford
*''
Shorter Ideas'' (Muse, 1984)
*''
Looking Ahead'' (Muse, 1986)
*''
Saxotic Stomp'' (Muse, 1987)
With
Sonny Fortune
Cornelius "Sonny" Fortune (May 19, 1939 – October 25, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist. He played soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, clarinet, and flute.
Biography
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Af ...
* ''
Four in One'' (Blue Note, 1994)
With
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...
* ''
American Classic'' (Elektra Musician, 1982)
With
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...
* ''
Two Tenor Winner'' (Criss Cross, 1984)
With
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes (born May 31, 1937) is an American jazz drummer and band leader. He was with McCoy Tyner's trio for more than three years. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He i ...
*''
The Super Quartet'' (Timeless, 1994)
With
Blue Mitchell and
Harold Land
* ''
Mapenzi'' (
Concord, 1977)
With
David "Fathead" Newman
*''
Heads Up'' (Atlantic, 1987)
*''
Fire! Live at the Village Vanguard'' (Atlantic, 1989)
With
David Murray
*''
Black & Black'' (Red Baron, 1991)
With The Leaders
* ''
Mudfoot'' (Black Hawk, 1986)
* ''
Out Here Like This'' (
Black Saint, 1987)
* ''
Unforeseen Blessings'' (Black Saint, 1988)
* ''
Heaven Dance'' (Sunnyside, 1988)
* ''
Slipping and Sliding'' (Sound Hills, 1994)
With
Jimmy Raney
*''
The Master'' (Criss Cross, 1983)
With
Rufus Reid
* ''
Perpetual Stroll'' (
Theresa, 1980)
With
Roots
A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
Root or roots may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
* ''Saying Something '' (1995)
* ''For Bird & Diz'' (In+Out, 1996)
With
Saheb Sarbib
* ''It Couldn't Happen Without You'' (
Soul Note)
With
Woody Shaw
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influentia ...
* ''
Imagination
Imagination is the production of sensations, feelings and thoughts informing oneself. These experiences can be re-creations of past experiences, such as vivid memories with imagined changes, or completely invented and possibly fantastic scenes ...
'' (
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, 1987)
With
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his era, recording over ...
* ''
Pow!'' (Prestige, 1965)
With Rudolph Johnson
* ''The Second Coming'' (Black Jazz Records, 1973)
References
Sources
*
Kirk Lightseyat
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightsey, Kirk
1937 births
Living people
American jazz pianists
American male jazz pianists
Jazz musicians from Detroit
Timeless Records artists
Criss Cross Jazz artists
Black Saint/Soul Note artists
20th-century American pianists
21st-century American pianists
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
The Leaders members
Sunnyside Records artists