Chris Lightcap's Big Mouth

[Steve Reynolds]

Saturday, Sep 07 - 9:00PM & 10:30PM - Cornelia Street Cafe
CHRIS LIGHTCAP - BIGMOUTH
Chris Lightcap, bass; Chris Cheek, tenor sax; Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Matt Mitchell, piano; Gerald Cleaver, drums

Had quite a few mixed thoughts on the show on Saturday - but overall a very fine band and a very enjoyable night - always nice to be about 3 or 4 feet from the bell of Tony Malaby's tenor saxophone - I NEVER take this blessing for granted.

Lightcap writes some very nice tunes but he does very little besides keep time and provide accents for the band but maybe that is the plan - he didnt even have a bow with him which for me is always a let down from the standpoint of the bass. They played a set of two short compositions during both sets that were beyond striking and which contained no solos and the improvisation was basically Cheek, and to a greater degree, Malaby improvising off the theme and the melody.

First set took a while to get going with Cleaver playing well but not anywhere near with the aggressive force that he sometimes displays in other contexts. He did ratchet it up a bit during one of the stronger pieces in the second set - but never did we get the real powerhouse groove and vibe that sometimes vaults his playing to the level of the great drummers.

Mitchell is a very talented pianist but he tends to the more flowery, high note content playing that is sometimes a bit much for my ears - very impressive but sometimes for me - the question is to what end?


Cheek is like Warne Marsh on steroids - competely emotionally controlled and very mathematical in his approach and a couple of the solos he took were close to magnificent. His accents with Malaby when the two tenors soloed together during a couple of tunes were apt and invigorating.

Malaby finds himself with this band in a restrained and controlled environment and he was easily to most interesting voice in the band - as some know he is maybe strongest when he is really stretching out and improvising at length on either soprano and especially on tenor saxophone - but here that was not the context. He took a very strong short solo on the first tune of the night staying mostly within the normal range of the horn and towards the end of the first set he got some space and played some shit that was within the framework of what the band was doing but surprised me with incorporated those gnarly and skronky sounds without disrupting the flow of the music.

Second set stronger and Malaby at points had BOTH elbows cranking and Malaby aficianados know what that means.......

said good bye - Tony tells me to send Evan his love on the 18th and I was on the way home

and yeah - it is about the love and the vibe - and fwiw - the place was packed for both sets and the crowd loved this band.