Chris Lightcap

Chris Lightcap
Background information
Born
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresJazz, rock, experimental
OccupationsMusician, composer
InstrumentsDouble bass, bass guitar

Chris Lightcap is an American double bassist, bass guitarist and composer born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Career

In addition to his work as a bassist he has led a variety of bands since 2000 and has produced six albums of original music. Lightcap's first two CDs as a leader, Lay-Up (2000) and Bigmouth (2003) were released on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and featured a quartet line-up with Gerald Cleaver on drums and Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry on tenor saxophones. Two years later he expanded the group to a quintet, naming it Bigmouth and establishing a line-up of Craig Taborn on keyboards, Chris Cheek and Malaby on tenor saxophones and Cleaver on drums. In 2010 Bigmouth recorded Deluxe, Lightcap's third CD as a leader, on Clean Feed Records with alto saxophonist Andrew D'Angelo also joining the group on three selections. The Wall Street Journal called the recording "superb".

In 2006 he received a commission to compose for the ensemble counter)induction, which premiered his piece Wiretap at the Tenri Cultural Center on October 16, 2006. In 2011 he received a New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America. Bigmouth premiered Lightcap's resulting work, Lost and Found at the Earshot Jazz Festival on October 28, 2012 in Seattle, WA. The work was subsequently broadcast on NPR for the show Jazzset with Dee Dee Bridgewater. A performance of the piece the following year was reviewed by The New York Times. Bigmouth's 2015 release on Clean Feed Records, Epicenter features this batch of music along with a cover of The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties". 2018 saw the release of his all-electric project Superette on Royal Potato Family which also featured guests Nels Cline and John Medeski. He received a second CMA New Jazz Works grant in 2016, the result of which was SuperBigmouth (which combined his Bigmouth and Superette bands), released on Pyroclastic Records in 2019. Lightcap's albums have appeared on year-end "best of" lists published in The New York Times, NPR, the Village Voice, Jazz Times, and Rolling Stone, among other publications.

Lightcap has worked with Marc Ribot, Regina Carter, Craig Taborn, David Byrne, John Medeski, Tomasz Stanko, John Scofield, The Swell Season, Darius Jones, Mark Turner, Joe Morris, Chris Potter, Glen Hansard, Sheila Jordan, James Carter, Butch Morris, Ben Monder, Ghost Train Orchestra, Tom Harrell, and others.

Lightcap is the cousin of Acetone guitarist Mark Lightcap.

Selected discography

As Leader

Year released Title Label Notes
2000 Lay-Up Fresh Sound Records Quartet, with Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Bill McHenry (tenor saxophone), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
2003 Bigmouth Fresh Sound Records Quartet, with Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Bill McHenry (tenor saxophone), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
2010 Deluxe Clean Feed Records Featuring Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Chris Cheek (tenor saxophone), Craig Taborn (Wurlitzer, piano), Gerald Cleaver (drums), and guest, Andrew D'Angelo (alto sax)
2015 Epicenter Clean Feed Records Featuring Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Chris Cheek (tenor saxophone), Craig Taborn (Wurlitzer, piano, organ), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
2018 Superette Royal Potato Family Featuring Jonathan Goldberger (electric guitar), Curtis Hasselbring (electric guitar), Dan Rieser (drums), Nels Cline (guest, electric guitar), John Medeski (guest, keyboards)
2019 Superbigmouth Pyroclastic Records Featuring Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Chris Cheek (tenor saxophone), Craig Taborn (keyboards), Jonathan Goldberger (electric guitar), Curtis Hasselbring (electric guitar), Gerald Cleaver (drums), Dan Rieser (drums)


As side musician

With Nels Cline

With David Byrne

With Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet

With Darius Jones

With Regina Carter

  • 2003 Paganinni: After a Dream (Verve Records)
  • 2010 Reverse Thread (E1)
  • 2014 Southern Comfort (Sony)
  • 2017 Ella: Accentuate the Positive (Sony)

With Craig Taborn

With Jon Irabagon

  • 2022 Rising Sun (Irabbagast)
  • 2024 Recharge the Blade (Irabbagast)
  • 2025 Server Farm (Irabbagast)
  • 2026 Focus Out (Irabbagast)

With Matt Wilson

With The Swell Season

With Chad Taylor

With Gerald Cleaver

With Joe Morris

With Rob Brown

With Whit Dickey

With others

  • 1997 Vision One, Various Artists (AUM Fidelity)
  • 1998 Being and Time, Norman Yamada (Tzadik Records)
  • 1998 Longing, Derek Bronston (Hecate)
  • 1998 Bab Bab, PLK Trio
  • 1999 Standards First, Yoav Polachek (WAMA)
  • 1999 With Every Breath, Anthony Coleman (Knitting Factory)
  • 2000 Misfit, David Sayers (Dreambox)
  • 2000 In Metropolitan Motion, Ben Waltzer (Fresh Sound Records)
  • 2003 Another Girl, Yola (Top Shelf)
  • 2003 Atrospect Sound, Creative Trans-Informational Alliance
  • 2003 Blue Guitar, Mary LaRose (little i)
  • 2004 Melodic Workshop, Joe Smith (Fresh Sound Records)
  • 2005 Credo, Michael Attias (Clean Feed Records)
  • 2006 Shakers-n-Bakers (little i)
  • 2006 Memoriaren Mapan, Ruper Ordorika (Elkar)
  • 2007 About Time, Claudette Sierra
  • 2007 Kairos, David Rogers
  • 2007 Green-Wood, James Carney (Songlines)
  • 2007 One Summer in Winters, Jeff Alkire
  • 2008 YFZ, Shakers-n-Bakers (little i)
  • 2008 Ways and Means, James Carney (Songlines)
  • 2009 Perennial, Rob Garcia (BJU)
  • 2009 Simple, Gabriel Puentes (Fresh Sound Records)
  • 2010 Simple Songs For When the World Seems Strange, Jeremy Siskind (BJU)
  • 2011 Disney Jazz, Vol. 1: Everybody Wants to Be a Cat, Various Artists (Sony)
  • 2011 Mysteries of the Cosmos, Takuya (BNS Records)
  • 2012 Bonnie and Clyde (Broadway Records)
  • 2012 Attitude, Megumi Hamada (Horipro)
  • 2012 Brud, Vols. 1-3, Andre Vida (Pan)
  • 2012 Anyscape, Michael Veal (Nektonic)
  • 2012 Music Meeting Festival Highlights, Various Artists 2012 (RNW)
  • 2012 Quintet (Tristano), Anthony Braxton (Braxton House)
  • 2013 Musical Gifts From Joshua Bell and Friends, Joshua Bell (Sony)
  • 2013 Reincarnation, Mary LaRose (little i)
  • 2014 Plymouth, Saft/Morris/Halvorson/Lightcap/Cleaver (RareNoiseRecords)
  • 2014 Afrikan Blues, Miguel Fernandez (SaxOn)
  • 2014 Tongue & Groove, Tom Chang (Raw Toast)
  • 2014 Venture Bound, Alon Nechushtan (Enja Records)
  • 2014 Round Tripper, Lisa Parrott
  • 2015 Irwinorange, Lena Hovanesian
  • 2015 Up From the Bitterroot, Skye Steele
  • 2016 The Wild and Whimsical Worlds Of David Mallamud, David Mallamud (Broadway Records)
  • 2018 Heart Love, Shakers-n-Bakers (little i)
  • 2020 Vol pour Sidney (retour), Various Artists (Nato)
  • 2020 Six of One, David Berkman (Palmetto Records)
  • 2020 Enhanced Package, Holistic Butcher (little i)
  • 2020 Memento Mori, Jon Dryden
  • 2022 Pond Life, Will Bernard (Posi-Tone Records)
  • 2022 Trio, Jon Dryden (Secret Sun)
  • 2023 Implicatures, Sam Weinberg (Astral Spirits Records)
  • 2025 Absent, Stefan Karl Schmid (musichub)
  • 2025 Dream Suites Vol. 1, Samo Salamon & Bob Moses (Bandcamp)
  • 2026 Light of Day, Michel Gentile (CRW)
  • 2026 No One Can Really See, Brian Krock (Toof Records)
  • 2026 Some of My Lies Are True, Jon Dryden (Secret Sun)

References

  1. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (January 9, 2006). "Reveling in the Tension Between Two Stylistic Worlds". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ Layne, Joslyn. "Chris Lightcap: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  3. ↑ McCandliss, Marie. "Latrobe native returns for concert." Latrobe, Pennsylvania: Latrobe Bulletin, October 16, 2044, p. A1 (subscription required).
  4. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (October 14, 2000). "Serene and Restless, Freely Juxtaposed". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ Chinen, Nate (May 10, 2010). "Sounds of New Orleans, and Far Beyond". The New York Times. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Martin (January 26, 2011). "Basing Himself in a New Jazz Sound". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ Chinen, Nate (June 3, 2013). "A Love Letter to New York, Written by Consensus". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ Chinen, Nate (December 16, 2010). "Renewal, the Sensual and Fraught Candor". The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  9. ↑ Jarenwattananon, Patrick (December 1, 2010). "Top 10 Jazz Albums Of 2010". NPR.org. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  10. ↑ "The 2010 Voice Critics' Poll: The Results". The Village Voice. December 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Critics' Picks: Top 50 CDs". Jazztimes. January 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  12. ↑ "The Many Sounds of Jazz in 2019: A Listener's Guide". Rolling Stone. December 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2021.