Local Spins spotlights the up-and-coming Grand Rapids musician who has a new EP, along with debuting tracks by Brian Oberlin, Luke Winslow-King, Pretty Sure, Katie Greene and more.
A Bright Light in Jazz: Grand Rapids saxophonist Lafayette Gunter Jr. (Photo/Local Spins)
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When Lafayette Gunter Jr. was 10 years old, his father put a tenor saxophone into his hands and his world hasn’t been the same since.
“I’ve been playing it for just all these years and I can’t let it go. Longest relationship I’ve ever had,” he says.
That relationship has blossomed into a full-fledged, passionate vocation as a saxophonist who’s performed with an impressive roster of area jazz musicians, including Steve Talaga, John Gist, Michael Doyle, Third Coast Swing, The Jazz Police, Hot Sauce and many more.
The 27-year-old also has performed with R&B acts, blues groups, rock bands and Latin music ensembles.
“Even though I love a lot of the standards, I always wanted to branch out and do more – R&B, smooth jazz, just diving my sound into just different styles until I can grow as a musician. My father would tell me the same thing: ‘I know you love the standards, I know you love jazz, but try to play different styles and different variations of music.’”
Now, that longstanding relationship with his saxophone has produced a five-song EP, “Working Man,” recorded at Tommy Schichtel’s Goon Lagoon studio in Grand Rapids. The EP contains three original songs dedicated to his dad, Lafayette Gunter Sr., who died in 2021.
Embracing All Styles of Music: Gunter at Goon Lagoon. (Photo/Local Spins)
“I know my father would want me to keep going with music,” he says. “Just actually being in the studio at Goon Lagoon has made me want to keep playing and keep writing more music and see where it goes – just give it a shot and see what direction it might pull me in. … I’ve definitely got plans.”
Inspired by a lengthy roster of legendary jazz saxophonists – Grover Washington Jr., David “Fathead” Newman, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Stanley Turrentine, Zoot Sims – Gunter started absorbing jazz through his father.
“My dad, man, he was a great guy. We just did a lot of laughing together. He was a tough guy, but then he was just so comedic,” Gunter says.
“He was a hardworking guy. I watched my dad work two different jobs when me and my sisters were little, and he would come home and take a quick nap on the sofa, and get up and put his other work clothes on and head out the door.”
So his death in 2021 hit Gunter hard. He remembers coming to Goon Lagoon at Schichtel’s request to play as part of a studio session and letting him know about his father’s passing.
“It was just hard for me and the family, and I didn’t know if I wanted to keep playing or if I wanted to just hang it up for a couple months or maybe a couple years,” he recalled.
“Tommy was like, ‘Oh no, man, you’re not going to stop, man. You’re going to keep playing that horn.’ ”
And so he has, with plans for another album and with several upcoming performances ahead: April 1 with Tony Viviano and April 8 with Kaedin Plummer at Drip Drop Cocktail Room in Grand Rapids, April 10, May 8 and May 21 at The Old Goat in Grand Rapids, and May 29 as part of a jazz collective at Horrocks Market in Kentwood.
“It’s like Sonny Rollins would say, ‘It’s a lifelong journey for a musician,’ ” Gunter said. “And Sonny is in his 90s.”
This week’s episode of the Michigan Music Showcase featured two tracks (“Working Man” and “Skylark”) from Gunter’s new EP (with pianist Steve Talaga, bassist Dale Bales II and drummers Fred Knapp and Evan Follmar) and a brief in-studio performance.
The show also included fresh tracks by Michigan-bred artists Katie Greene, Luke Winslow-King, Pretty Sure, The Space Between Breaths, Brian Mulder, Spencer LaJoye & Buffalo Rose, Money Soupand Brian Oberlin, as well as a retro classic from Bob Seger. Listen to the full radio show below.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (3/27/26)
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