The venerable Lightsey, who turns 86 this month, is often forgotten in the roll-call of Detroit pianists, falling between the somewhat older triumvirate of Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan and Roland Hanna and the much younger Geri Allen. A punchier player than the aforementioned, he's been mainly valued as a sideman, despite several outings under his own name. This new entry in the SmallsLIVE Living Masters series (inaugurated by Sheila Jordan, see Jazzwise 278) finds him foregrounding a loose, almost jam-session atmosphere.

Loose becomes almost messy in the opening track, where guitarist Whitfield doesn’t know the tune of ‘In Your Own Sweet Way’, so Lightsey half-plays it simultaneously – it's a nice touch, though, to use Wayne Shorter's ‘One By One’ for its shout-chorus. Whitfield's playing is occasionally rather garbled, compared to his early days on Verve, but he provides a pleasant contrast to the leader, whose repertoire includes JJ Johnson's ‘Lament’ and Tony Williams's ‘Pee Wee’ (which he has recorded before). The closer, Tyner's ‘Blues On The Corner’, also starts a bit messily but hits a groove, thanks to DiBriano and Lewis, with Whitfield finding his feet and enjoying a closing duel with Lightsey's piano. Despite the live feel of the playing, and indeed the title, there's no evidence of an audience on the finished album, so you have to imagine you were there.