Chris Lightcap


Chris Lightcap is an American double bassist, bass guitarist and composer born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Lightcap has worked with Marc Ribot, Regina Carter, Craig Taborn, John Medeski, Tomasz Stanko, John Scofield, The Swell Season, Mark Turner, Joe Morris, Chris Potter, Glen Hansard, Sheila Jordan, James Carter, Butch Morris, Ben Monder, Tom Harrell and others.
In addition to his work as a sideman he has led a variety of bands since 2000 and has produced six albums of original music. Lightcap's first two CDs as a leader, Lay-Up and Bigmouth were released on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and featured a quartet line-up with Gerald Cleaver on drums and Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry on tenor saxophones. Two years later he expanded the group to a quintet, naming it Bigmouth and establishing a line-up of Craig Taborn on keyboards, Chris Cheek and Malaby on tenor saxophones and Cleaver on drums. In 2010 Bigmouth recorded Deluxe, Lightcap's third CD as a leader, on Clean Feed Records with alto saxophonist Andrew D'Angelo also joining the group on three selections. The Wall Street Journal called the recording "superb" and it was named one of the best releases of 2010 by The New York Times, NPR, the Village Voice, and Jazz Times, among other publications. 2018 saw the release of his all-electric project Superette on Royal Potato Family which also featured guests Nels Cline and John Medeski.
In 2006 he received a commission to compose for the ensemble counter, released on Pyroclastic Records in 2019.

Selected discography

As leader

As sideman