Kirk Lightsey

Pianist and flutist Kirk Lightsey is a sophisticated improvisor with a lithe touch and a bent toward expansive, post-bop, modal jazz and warmly rendered standards. Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1935, Lightsey first began playing piano at age five and grew up listening to swing and big-band music via radio and his mother's record collection. Later, he studied privately with legendary teacher Gladys Wade Dillard, who also tutored similar Detroit luminaries as Barry Harris and Tommy Flanagan. It was while attending Cass Technical High School alongside classmates Paul Chambers, Ron...