Lafayette Gilchrist & Cecil Brooks to Perform at The Lilypad

Acclaimed pianist and composer Lafayette Gilchrist performs with special guest trumpeter and Cambridge native Cecil Brooks at The Lilypad in Cambridge. Gilchrist and Brooks are both members of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Gilchrist and Brooks perform on Friday, November 6 at The Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $25, $20 advance, $15 students and seniors. Info at lilypadinman.com.

Gilchrist, who performed for a standing room only crowd at the Lilypad in 2022, returns with Brooks, a Cambridge native and fellow member of the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Gilchrist's music draws on the span of jazz history from stride to free improvisation, along with inspiration from hip-hop, funk, and Washington D.C.'s unique go-go sound. His work thrives on making surprising connections between styles and influences, boldly veering from piledriver funk to piquant stride, vigorous swing to hip-hop swagger, contemplative abstraction to deep-bottom grooves. Gilchrist is the pianist in the Sun Ra Arkestra, has toured extensively with David Murray, and his compositions have graced the soundtracks of David Simon's acclaimed series The Wire, The Deuce, and Treme.

Gilchrist has performed with Cassandra Wilson, Macy Gray, Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille, Orrin Evans, Paul Dunmall, Hamid Drake, William Parker and many more. Gilchrist's second solo recording, 2019 'Dark Matter' which muses on the elusive and mysterious matter that ties the universe together, landed on numerous critics best of lists.

In 2025, Gilchrist's hip-hop, funk and go-go fueled ensemble New Volcanoes released the live recording Move With Love, their first album in seven years, earning wide acclaim. 'We need to move with love,' Gilchrist says, 'because the whole world seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The only way to move towards the future is with humanity, with compassion, with care – with love.'