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Lafayette Gilchrist's indomitable spirit energizes his newest album, Undaunted, to be released on CD & Limited edition vinyl via Morphius Records. The world-renowned pianist & composer leads a sextet through 5 riveting compositions that exemplify why he's one of the most iconoclastic jazz musicians of his generation. "Now" drummer Eric Kennedy & bassist Herman Burney, are joined by Brian Settles (tenor sax), Christian Hizon (trombone), & Kevin Pinder (percussion), resulting in a meatier, grittier sound articulating Gilchrist's brooding, urban gothic take on modern jazz that subtly coalesces barrelhouse blues, stride piano, post hard-bop, hip-hop, go-go, and R&B. The album kicks off with the evocative title track, featuring Gilchrist embroidering a dance-like melody on top of Burney's skulking bass line, which gives way to laid-back melodic sway of the horn passages. Next up is the suspenseful "Ride It Out," an episodic composition marked by an infectious yet probing melody, torrential horn solos, and startling breaks. Gilchrist describes it as a "sonic portrait of a fever," specifically referencing the one many obtained after catching the deadly Covid-19 virus during the pandemic. Track 3 "Into The Swirl" is the tonal centerpiece for the album, an evocative masterpiece. "I had this rhythmic idea that sounded like things moving by at a fast pace..to touch it is to be sucked into it," he says. "The song is about being in that decisive moment of whether to touch it or not." The album's mood lightens on the swaggering "Southern Belle," before concluding with the stammering "Metropolitan Musings (Them Streets Again)," an Afro-Latin tinged tribute to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Even though those mid-Atlantic hubs are considered twin cities, they can appear vastly different with their own unique inner rivalry. Here Pinder supplies restless hand percussion as the song makes oblique references to DC's signature go-go sound and Baltimore's renowned deep house scene.

Track Listing

Sales Points

• Gilchrist’s recent albums – 2019’s Dark Matter and 2020’s Now – landed on numerous critics best of the year lists at National Public Radio, Paste Magazine, Cadence and many others.
• His work thrives on making surprising connections between styles and influences, boldly veering from piledriver funk to piquant stride, vigorous swing to hip-hop swagger, contemplative abstraction to deep-bottom grooves.
• Lafayette Gilchrist’s music draws on the span of jazz history from stride to free improvisation, along with inspiration from hip-hop, funk, and Washington D.C.’s unique go-go sound.
• Gilchrist has toured extensively with David Murray, and his compositions have graced the soundtracks of David Simon’s acclaimed series The Wire, The Deuce, and Treme.

Press Quotes

Iconoclastic Pianist and Composer Lafayette Gilchrist Exudes His Unconquerable Spirit on His New Album, Undaunted New Orleans barrelhouse piano, the Impressionism of Ravel, and Duke Ellington's jaggy solo-piano sound form the bedrock of Lafayette Gilchrist's style at the keyboard. But if there's one big influence on the way he thinks about rhythm, it's the deeply swinging 'pocket' of a classic go-go beat. With its classic loping groove, built on heavy hand percussion and call-and-response flow, go-go is the unofficial musical idiom of Gilchrist's native Washington, D.C.

     —Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times

Lafayette Gilchrist has dug deep into [jazz piano] history... he's tapping into jazz's spiritual, historical and cultural roots. He's an old soul at ease in the modern world.

     —Kevin Whitehead, NPR’s Fresh Air

Few of Gilchrist's contemporaries have the feel for jazz's secular and sacred tributaries that he possesses... Gilchrist has a singular facility to make it new. Therein is the light that emanates from Dark Matter.

     —Bill Shoemaker, Point of Departure