On his new album, Kirk Lightsey performs ambitious, challenging music, several Wayne Shorter compositions, John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.” The pianist engages them with the willingness to make them accessible and the ability to do so without diminishing their character. He worked as an accompanist to singers early in his long career and one can easily imagine him at a piano bar, improvising on the melodies as the customers clink their glasses and order another round. However, the smart ones in the crowd would follow where his fingers take them. The album’s title number is the sole original—and it sounds like a classic from the Great American Songbook.
