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In 1993 Gilchrist formed the New Volcanoes, as a quartet that also contained trumpeter Freddie Dunn, bassist Vince Loving, and drummer Nate Reynolds. Trumpeter and sound engineer Mike Cerri was soon added, and Gilchrist recorded his first album, The Art Is Life, as a sextet with James Dephillipo added on euphonium. This was self-released, as was Gilchrist's second album, Asphalt Revolt. He played with the New Volcanoes and gave solo performances on the East Coast for several years after graduating.
Gilchrist gradually built the sound of the New Volcanoes by adding particular musicians on different instruments, particularly Gabriel Ware on alto saxophone and Greg Thompkins on tenor. The latter commented that the pianist "does look at the horn section as a choir, But it's a choir where anyone can get the spirit and take off". Gilchrist's 2008 New Volcanoes album Soul Progressin' received a four-star review from Down Beat, which commented that "Gilchrist's sanguine melodies, vulnerable and gospelized, distinguish the music from M-Base's cool austerity." A 2012 recording of the same group also contained a mix of styles: one reviewer described one track from It Came from Baltimore: Live at the Windup Space Vol. 1 as containing elements of "Pop and the avant-garde, old and new, free-jazz and funk, hip-hop and rock, modernist dissonance and sentimental grooves". Gilchrist has stated that his compositions for the New Volcanoes "build from small things to big things, from settlements to villages to cities; I never start with the whole city. That's what we're all about: breaking the music up in the middle and then re-gathering the pieces". Following the approach of Duke Ellington, Gilchrist prefers to compose pieces for specific members of his band, instead of for particular instruments. In 2007, he commented on the political element of his compositions: "everything I write about, in my music, has a political slant to it. It comes from basically a very, very disturbed young black man. And at times angry, furious. But if that anger doesn't have a spiritual dimension, you're going to be in a lot of trouble" |
Lafayette Gilchrist and The New Volcanoes at The Virginia Folk Festival.
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From the hit show, The Wire Lafayette Gilchrist's song Assume the Position
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