Chris Lightcap is an American

double bassist The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

bass guitarist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

and composer born in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The city population was 8,338 as of the 2010 census (9,265 in 1990). It is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ri ...

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 Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded b ...

label and featured a quartet line-up with Gerald Cleaver on drums and Tony Malaby and

Bill McHenry Bill McHenry (born 1972) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the leader of the Bill McHenry Quartet and has released over a dozen albums under his own name, in addition to collaborating on many more. Early life McHenry was born i ...

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 Christopher Carson Cheek (born September 16, 1968) is an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Cheek was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father was the director of a Junior high school band. Cheek began learning to play the alto saxopho ...

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 Clean Feed Records is a jazz record label founded in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001. The label's roster includes Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Carlos Bica, Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Evans, Scott Fields, Fight the Big Bull, ...

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 Chamber Music America (CMA) is an American non-profit organization that provides small ensemble professionals with access to a variety of professional development, networking, and funding resources. CMA's regular initiatives include grants, awards, ...

. Bigmouth premiered Lightcap's resulting work, ''Lost and Found'' at the

Earshot Jazz Earshot Jazz is a regional jazz non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington. It brings jazz musicians and enthusiasts from the greater Seattle area and around the Pacific Northwest to create an energetic and lively jazz community that wants to k ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Bigmouth's 2015 release on

, ''Epicenter'' features this batch of music along with a cover of

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

's "

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

". 2018 saw the release of his all-electric project ''Superette'' on

Royal Potato Family Royal Potato Family is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The label's roster includes Marco Benevento, Seth Walker, American Babies, Robert Walter, Holly Bowling, Lukas Nelson, Neal Casal, Mike Dillon, Allison ...

which also featured guests

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has w ...

and

John Medeski Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...

. 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 been appeared on year-end "best of" lists published in ''

'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

, Jazz Times, and

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

, among other publications. Lightcap has worked with

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

, Regina Carter,

Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...

Tomasz Stanko Tomasz is a Polish given name, the equivalent of Thomas in English. Notable people with the given name include: *Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish heavyweight boxer *Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), Polish socialist politician and Prime Minist ...

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...

The Swell Season The Swell Season is a folk rock duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title ...

, Mark Turner, Joe Morris, Chris Potter,

Glen Hansard Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top te ...

Sheila Jordan Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson; November 18, 1928) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pione ...

, James Carter, Butch Morris, Ben Monder and

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

and others. Lightcap is the cousin of

Acetone Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone), is an organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly volatile and flammable liquid with a characteristic pungent odour. Acetone is miscib ...

guitarist Mark Lightcap.

Selected discography

As Leader

As Bassist

References

External links

Chris Lightcap official siteWall Street Journal Article on Chris Lightcap by Martin JohnsonClean Feed Press Archive for Chris LightcapAllmusic.com EntryBigmouth on NPR's Jazzset with Dee Dee Bridgewater
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightcap, Chris Living people Williams College alumni American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists American jazz bass guitarists People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Guitarists from Pennsylvania American male bass guitarists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people) The Delphian Jazz Orchestra members