Lafayette Gilchrist

After spending the first 17 years of his life in Washington, D. C., Gilchrist is now one of Baltimore's favorite sons and gifted jazz musicians. He was selected as a “Local Legend” by Baltimore Magazine in their "Best of Baltimore" 2017 issue. Baltimore's City Paper chose his New Volcanoes its Best Band that same year. That being the case, Gilchrist's musical career started much later than many who pursue the craft. It wasn't until the summer before college, when he wandered into an empty recital hall and sat down at the keys on a whim, that he ever touched a piano. "It sounds like a fairy tale," he recalls, "but it's the truth: I wandered into the recital hall and saw this 9-foot Steinway grand piano on the stage. Nobody was around and it wasn't locked up, so I stepped on the sustain pedal and started playing sounds. When I came off the pedal the sounds disappeared, and that's how it started." Gilchrist leads the genre-defying ensembles the New Volcanoes and the Sonic Trip Masters All Stars. Along with bassist Mark Formanek and drummer Eric Kennedy, he's a member of the adventurous collective trio Inside Out.

Photo Credit: Screenshot courtesy of WRTI.