Kirk Lightsey - I Will Never Stop Loving You on Jojo Records

Renowned Pianist Kirk Lightsey Announces His Eagerly Awaited Return to Solo Piano With The Inventive I Will Never Stop Loving You, to be Released via Jojo Records

Jojo Records is thrilled to announce the September 3, 2021 release of I Will Never Stop Loving You, a solo studio recording from heralded pianist Kirk Lightsey. Three and a half decades after the pianist’s highly acclaimed solo recordings from the mid-eighties Lightsey I, Lightsey II and Lightsey Live!, Lightsey returns with a solo flight that retrospects an illustrious career as a distinctive and singular voice in jazz piano. I Will Never Stop Loving You is an intimate album made by a mature musician firm in his element. Capturing the close intimacy between Kirk and his dearest instrument, alongside the lightest of touches of the pedal and faint traces of his own breath, it retains the listener’s fascination from beginning to end.

A member of the eminent Detroit school of jazz piano, Kirk is a sophisticated improviser who plays complex chords with a personal and subtle touch. Possessing a distinct sound of his own, his idiosyncratic delivery is usually recognizable from the very first notes. The New York Times sketches Lightsey as “An [84] year old pianist with a diaphanous harmonic sensibility and a redoubtable résumé (he toured and/or recorded with Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker and Woody Shaw, among countless others).”

The Detroit born pianist saw his rise in prominence in the mid 1960s when he moved to New York and recorded with Chet Baker and George Coleman on their iconic Prestige sessions. Lightsey then ventured West to California at the end of the decade to perform with such jazz luminaries as Pharoah Sanders and Bobby Hutcherson. This innovative era laid the groundwork for decades of musical output which finally landed on his 1982 debut as a single leader on Lightsey I, regarded to this day as a seminal pianistic masterwork. In 1988, Lightsey was voted among the top pianists in the world by the Downbeat International Critics’ Poll and in 1989, he was chosen as one of Steinway’s preferred artists. The artist defines himself as incorporating “a Bud Powell awareness, an Art Tatum styling, a bebop feeling and a pianist approach.”

Photo of Kirk Lightsey by Eric Garault

“Patience. A lesson in patience. My whole life seems to be about the lesson of patience. Patience with myself,” Lightsey proclaims. On the topic of patience, I Will Never Stop Loving You appears to be a study of just that – a revisiting of classic compositions frequented by the pianist throughout a long and brilliant career, chronicling a ceaseless and persistent exploration for new sonacy and timbre. 

Revisiting some of the most cherished compositions in his repertoire, on I Will Never Stop Loving You, Lightsey applies his singular touch and unique storytelling to a selection of beloved standards, some of which are even more identified with him than with the musicians who wrote them. Such are Tony Williams’ “Pee Wee” and Phil Woods’ “Goodbye Mr. Evans”, while Coltrane’s iconic and highly technical “Giant Steps” receives an extremely irregular interpretation, with almost no single notes. Wayne Shorter’s music, a constant presence in Kirk’s musical path, appears with 3 compositions from Shorter’s classic Blue Note recording Speak No Evil, further intertwining a long relationship which dates back to Kirk’s first gigs in NYC upon his arrival to the city in the mid 1960s.

The album’s title track “I Will Never Stop Loving You”, a lesser-known composition conveyed by the pianist, was a specific request from Jojo Records founder and the album’s producer, Simon Belelty. A masterwork of grace and nuance, the tender piece begins the album and sets the tone for an album wrife with evocative arrangements, and exquisite exploration.

This album is lovingly dedicated to his wife, Nathalie. 

1 I’ll Never Stop Loving You (6:36) (Kirk Lightsey)

2 Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum (4:38) (Wayne Shorter)

3 Pee Wee (4:30) (Tony Williams)

4 Infant Eyes (4:42) (Wayne Shorter)

5 Goodbye Mr. Evans (5:47) (Phil Woods)

6 Giant Steps (3:48) (John Coltrane)

7 Wild Flower (6:25) (Wayne Shorter)

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Jon Boutellier - On Both Sides of the Atlantic! (August 2021 Gaya Music Productions)

Big band leader and soloist extraordinaire Jon Boutellier is a New York based saxophonist and composer.

Surrounded by jazz since his childhood, he turned this musical language into the work of his life: writing, arranging and playing with talented musicians all over the world.

1. Black 07:51

2. Blue Rose 04:12

3. Maybe September (feat. Kirk Lightsey) 08:33

4. Save That Time (feat Célia Kameni & Kirk Lightsey) 04:55

5. Nice & Nasty 05:01

6. Quiet Sides 06:15

7. 1974 Blues 05:00

8. We'll Be Together Again 05:00

9. Yesterdays 05:03

10. Blues on the Corner 06:39

Jon Boutellier – Tenor Saxophone 

Alexander Claffy – Bass

Kyle Poole – Drums

Célia Kameni – Vocals on track 4

Kirk Lightsey – Piano on track 3, 4 & 10 

Jean-Paul Estievenart – Trumpet on track 1, 2, 4 & 10  

Produced by Jon Boutellier

Recorded at Studio de Meudon, France, on December 11 & 12, 2018 

ngineered, mixed and mastered by Julien Bassères  

Music Consultant Fred Nardin

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Elodie Lauton Quintette - Origines (DOUBLE MOON RECORDS 2018)

Hardly anyone knows Damia today, a famous French singer and actress who is considered the model of later world stars such as Edith Piaf, Barbara or Juliette Greco. In her chansons, Damia almost exclusively sang the life that in her case had tragic elements, which is why she received the nickname “la tragédienne de la chanson” (the tragic figure of the chanson). The singer was idolized between the world wars, but increasingly forgotten after the occupation of France by the Germans. Her music and voice only appeared again decades later in the films of Claude Chabrol, Jean Eustache and Aki Kaurismäki. “Dalmia’s story and her repertoire touched me very deeply. She had her own style and was the first “Chanteuse réaliste” in our country,” Elodie Lauton explained the motives for “Originis”, her second album after the much-respected crossover project “Terminal B”, which she released in 2012 with the group Goldamour around the pianist/keyboarder Jasper van’t Hof.

For the homage to her idol Damia, Elodie Lauton assembled a number of outstanding European musicians such as the French trumpeter Stéphane Belmondo, the Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy and the Swiss Hungarian contrabassist Tibor Elekes (cb), whereby the American pianist Kirk Lightsey, who has been living in Paris since the beginning of the 1990s, can also be referred to as such. Jean-Claude André (trumpet), Philippe Koerper (saxophone), Andreas Tschopp (trombone), Priscille Blein (flute), Günther Wehinger (flute) and Marc Bätscher (bass clarinet) enrich the light band sound as a veritable wind ensemble. The result touches and goes you directly to your heart. Chansons in her native language with this very special, subtly swinging jazz touch: Elodie Lauton absolutely wanted to try that out. The Swiss pianist Felix Graf composed the arrangements more or less precisely to fit her style, which give the very personal texts of Damia and the voice of the vocalist a distinctive aura.

"I try to understand from where I come, so I know who I am and where I am going,” Elodie Lauton emphasized. "The texts, the words which I interpret, are very important for me. Felix has succeeded in merging jazz with French chansons and a small, traditional wind ensemble, while preserving our musical identity at the same time.” Giving Dalmia’s melodies new life together with the fascinating Kirk Lightsey was incredible fun for her and the whole band. This becomes more than clear after a few seconds in marvelous songs such as “Le Vent Mʼa Dit une Chanson” (The wind told me a story), “Je Voudrais Que La Nuit” (I would like this night) or “Celui Qui sʼen Va” (Whoever goes).

Elodie Lauton comes from Montpellier and has played piano and cello as well as composed since early childhood. She already knew that singing would play a central role in her life when she graduated with a diploma in cello studies when she was 17 and later when she received a Ph.D. in musicology. In other words, another course of study, and this time at Basel Music College. In the Jazz Department there, Susanne Abbuehl initiated her into the secrets of vocal art, and she graduated with a Master’s Degree in 2006. In 2013, Elodie Lauton supplemented her diverse educational qualifications with a CA (French state diploma) as a coordinator for contemporary music.

In addition to her actual career, which exerts considerable influence especially in the border triangle of France, Germany and Switzerland, she now teaches young singers in the categories Jazz, Pop and Rock at the Liestal Regional Music School in Switzerland and at the Académie des Arts Huningue in France. In addition, Elodie Lauton also dedicates herself passionately to the health and therapeutic aspects of singing and breathing.

Elodie Lauton (voc)

Stéphane Belmondo (tr)

Kirk Lightsey (p)

Tibor Elekes (cb)

Jorge Rossy (dr)

Additional Horns:

Jean-Claude André (tr)

Philippe Koerper (sax)

Andreas Tschopp (trb)

Priscille Blein (fl)

Günther Wehinger (fl)

Marc Bätscher (bcl)

1 Dis-moi pourquoi ? introduction  01:02

2 J?ai perdu ma jeunesse  05:55

3 Tout le jour, toute la nuit  05:46

4 Le vent m?a dit une chanson  06:21

5 Celui qui s?en va  06:27

6 J?ai rêvé cette nuit  05:19

7 Sombre dimanche  05:26

8 On ne lutte pas contre l?amour  05:56

9 Depuis que les bals sont fermés  05:02

10 Je voudrais que la nuit  03:40

11 Dis-moi pourquoi  04:02