Steve Lacy

Tom Storer · March-30th-2003, 01:34 PM

There are enough Lacy fans around here to make this a thread that will last.

I'll start with the news that he has released, or will soon since it's being advertised in the April edition of the French jazz magazines, "The Beat Suite," on Emarcy. This was apparently recorded a couple of years ago but was delayed while copyright problems were worked out, for it is a poetry-and-music affair celebrating the beat generation. Lacy, George Lewis, Jean-Jacques Avenel and John Betsch play; Irene Aebi handles the reading or singing, I dunno, of ten texts by Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, Kaufman, Rexroth, and Jack Spicer. And maybe others, I'm not sure since I'm basing this on a review, not having heard the record yet. The review likes it, says it is slow and solemn, tragic, comparable to funeral lamentations.

Lacy and beatnik poetry... a natural. I'm going to get it real soon.

Bill Barton · March-30th-2003, 02:05 PM

Be sure to check out the recent hatOLOGY reissues of the Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet's School Days and The Steve Lacy 6's We See. The former is particularly wonderful, with Henry Grimes and Dennis Charles in top form.

stevebop · March-30th-2003, 04:34 PM

Tom: Your loss, our gain. As you know Steve has recently taken up residence in Boston with his wife, Irene Aebi.

He is teaching at The NE Conservatory of Music and is performing all over town.

A couple of months ago he and Irene gave a concert in NEC's beautiful Jordan Hall. The first half was Steve solo on ten of Monk pieces and then ten of his own. After a brief intermission Irene joined him on stage for some works from "Beat Scene."
The Boston audience loved them and they in turn loved their reception. They looked at each other often and seemed to be saying, "This is nice. We made the right decision coming to Boston!"

They will doing something similar in a couple of weeks at The Museum of Fine Arts. It's being billed as "Ten of Dukes" and some material from the "Beat Scene" is also promised.

Recently he was the featured soloist the Boston Jazz Composers Allience Orchestra (I'm not sure that is the accurate title. Someone out there help?). I missed that gig.

Then...on May 2 and 3 Steve does a duo gig with Danilo Perez at The Regatta Bar in Cambridge. I have been in negotations with their mangament(s) to allow my station, WGBH-FM to record this gig for later rebroadcast locally on GBH and nationally on NPR's JazzSet. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tom Storer · March-31st-2003, 03:34 AM

Steve,

Lacy made a solo record called "Ten of Duke's + 6 Originals," recorded in Japan in 2000. You can order it on the web from the Lacy-dedicated "Senators" site. Lois's rules prohibit adding the link to a commercial site, so let me explain that its URL lacks the usual three w's. After the word "senators" comes the word "free," then the country code "fr", all these separated by periods.

Tom K · March-31st-2003, 04:28 AM

Does anyone know for sure? Last thing I heard was that Steve Lacy had already given up the US again and returned to Europe. Is this more than just an unqualified rumour?

Paul B · March-31st-2003, 12:25 PM

ui

Other Steve · March-31st-2003, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tom Storer
I'll start with the news that he has released, or will soon since it's being advertised in the April edition of the French jazz magazines, "The Beat Suite," on Emarcy. This was apparently recorded a couple of years ago but was delayed while copyright problems were worked out, for it is a poetry-and-music affair celebrating the beat generation. Lacy, George Lewis, Jean-Jacques Avenel and John Betsch play; Irene Aebi handles the reading or singing, I dunno, of ten texts by Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, Kaufman, Rexroth, and Jack Spicer.

This band will be doing some limited summer engagements in the U.S. with the material from the new album. I already knew that they'd be at the Iridium in NYC on August 5-10, but the Senators website also lists dates at the Outpost Performing Space in Albuquerque, NM (August 11) and the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, NM (August 12). Can't imagine that they wouldn't also take the opportunity to swing out to the Bay Area, but these are the only dates confirmed so far.

Other Steve · March-31st-2003, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevebop
Then...on May 2 and 3 Steve does a duo gig with Danilo Perez at The Regatta Bar in Cambridge. I have been in negotations with their mangament(s) to allow my station, WGBH-FM to record this gig for later rebroadcast locally on GBH and nationally on NPR's JazzSet. Keep your fingers crossed.

According to Senators (again), this will be preceded by two performances in Vermont on April 29 and 30, no towns or venues listed, followed by a U.S. tour by the duo from May 5 to May 15, with details forthcoming on those as well.

You can also find details of an April run in NYC that I hadn't heard anything about previously, at St. Mark's Church April 3-6 with a harpsichordist and some dancers (the latter including Lacy himself, if the site is accurate). And there's a Lacy/Aebi date in Portland, Maine on April 26 featuring 10 of Dukes plus excerpts from the Beat Suite.

Bill Barton · April-1st-2003, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Other Steve
According to Senators (again), this will be preceded by two performances in Vermont on April 29 and 30, no towns or venues listed, followed by a U.S. tour by the duo from May 5 to May 15, with details forthcoming on those as well.

You can also find details of an April run in NYC that I hadn't heard anything about previously, at St. Mark's Church April 3-6 with a harpsichordist and some dancers (the latter including Lacy himself, if the site is accurate). And there's a Lacy/Aebi date in Portland, Maine on April 26 featuring 10 of Dukes plus excerpts from the Beat Suite.

What, pray tell, is the "Senators" website? I certainly hope that Seattle is included on the U.S. tour, as Lacy is one of the few living masters I've not in heard in concert, and absolutely want-have-need to do so!

Other Steve · April-1st-2003, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill Barton
What, pray tell, is the "Senators" website? I certainly hope that Seattle is included on the U.S. tour, as Lacy is one of the few living masters I've not in heard in concert, and absolutely want-have-need to do so!

Bill, Senators is Lacy's own official website. Tom Storer's second post, above, tells you how to get there. Once there, click on "home page" and then "live" to get to the concert itinerary.

Bill Barton · April-1st-2003, 11:44 PM

Thanks! Guess I misssed that... Oops.

Paul B · April-2nd-2003, 11:30 AM

poi

Jim Dye · April-2nd-2003, 12:22 PM

'Findings' is outstanding. One could easily apply Lacy's method(s) to the study of any instrument. It also has much to offer non-musicians as well. Get it if you can find a copy.

Paul B · April-2nd-2003, 01:20 PM

df

Other Steve · September-15th-2003, 12:44 PM

If anyone was thwarted in his or her quest to obtain a copy of Lacy's excellent 2001 trio disc The Holy La on the (now defunct?) Freelance label, I see that it's just been reissued this month on Sunnyside.

Dan G · September-15th-2003, 01:40 PM

In the thread about the Guelph Jazz Festival, someone mentioned that Lacy is ill, but didn't expand on it. What's wrong with him? How long have people known, etc?

Paul B · September-15th-2003, 04:47 PM

sd

Dr Dave · September-16th-2003, 10:25 PM

This is the best Lacy discography I've found yet:

Steve Lacy Discography

Rob C · September-29th-2003, 03:26 PM

This is probably old news to most of the peeps around here, but I have to give props to School Days, which I just picked up (thanks to Drimala's sale). Wonderful music!

I don't think I've been disappointed by a Lacy record yet, he's one of the greats.

LeMo · September-30th-2003, 01:07 PM

Got news from Lacy's close friend about his health.
Seems that the man is, effectively, very ill.
Let cross our fingers that he will, anyway, escape to *that* dreadfull sickness.

Paul B · September-30th-2003, 03:02 PM

fo

Cem · September-30th-2003, 03:28 PM

That is shitty news. Lacy has given so much to generations of music lovers. I hope he's around and healthy for a good long while.

gonzo · October-1st-2003, 03:08 AM

another of the greats i would love to see sometime.

me wag · June-2nd-2004, 04:52 PM

Well, I hope it's wrong but I Just heard from the Bay Area list-serv that Jon Raskin recently spoke to Steve Lacy and he is not well. As most of you know, Lacy has cancer. Could be days, even hours...

Vince Kargatis · June-2nd-2004, 05:11 PM

Hope this isn't too true.

Anyway, Mone - can you merge this thread with the primary 'Steve Lacy' thread started by Tom Storer?

Paul B · June-2nd-2004, 05:21 PM

fgiu

moneyp · June-2nd-2004, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince Kargatis

Hope this isn't too true.

Anyway, Mone - can you merge this thread with the primary 'Steve Lacy' thread started by Tom Storer?

Done.

And bummer! I just went through the wringer with a friend who lost a six-month battle with cancer. The whole ordeal was so prolonged and unpleasant that, all things considered, when it comes to final exits, I'd rather get hit by a bus. My heart goes out to Mr. Lacy and his family and friends, and I hope whatever time he has left is pain-free and peaceful.

rinkedinkus · June-3rd-2004, 07:25 PM

if anyone on this board can get a message to mr. Lacy, please tell him that he will dominate my prayers. he probably won't remember me, so just tell him it's from Paul in colorado who he met at the boulder show and who plays both string bass and saxophone. his reply was, "that's a wild combo!" i truly hope the "new therapies" alluded to in other posts work.
pcl

Captain Hate · June-3rd-2004, 08:48 PM

I was afraid that the flurry of posts on this thread were for this reason. Here's hoping that this modern master can pull through.

mke · June-6th-2006, 09:56 AM

http://visionsong.blogspot.com/2006/06/steve-lacy.html

Quote:

Today marks the second anniversary of the death of Steve Lacy, pioneer of the soprano saxophone, composer and teacher. As time passes, days like this become less overtly significant, but for me no more pleasant. Since his death Steve's music certainly continues- I've been to half a dozen gigs in the past year where Steve's music was featured without making a big deal of it, notably by Jeremy Udden and Monikah (for my money the best interpreter of Steve's songs who wasn't married to him). Dave Douglas likewise has incorporated some of Steve's work into his bands' book, and his "Blues for Lacy" on the new Meaning and Mystery is the best tune on the record. Hopefully, Steve's music one day will occupy a similar place in the "canon" (uggh, that word) that Monk's does.

One of the main attractions of attending New England Conservatory (well, one that wasn't named Brookmeyer) was the chance to study with Steve. I was not exactly a huge fan, but I knew that when it came to the soprano, he was THE guy. (From no less than Wayne Shorter- "Anyone who plays soprano orientates himself on Steve Lacy".) Ditto for the art of solo saxophone playing, along perhaps with Braxton and Evan Parker. The difference with Steve's solo playing was, Steve never abandoned song form, making records of solo performance of Monk or his own music rather than of improvisations.

Steve was a very particular guy. He did things a certain way, played a certain way, and wanted music the way he wanted it. Unlike a lot of particular people, however, he wasn't the least bit imposing or egotistical about it. If he didn't like something, he'd just shake his head and say "no, man, that part just isn't it! Doesn't go where it needs to go." (I remember his specifically saying that about the bridge to "The Nearness of You." Like the tune, just not the bridge) And that by itself was enough to make you want to fix it. In talking with Ryshpan, he said something similar. He was watching Steve rehearse a student group paying free. Every time Steve played, the music was very focused. When he stopped, it fell into chaos. Steve didn't have a center of musical gravity, he WAS the center of gravity.

Studying with Steve was a great joy, though it wasn't exactly studying in the traditional sense. After the first lesson, where he went over some very simple ways he "tamed" the soprano (which, coincidentally, still form the first chunk of any practice session for me), he said, "well, what do you want to do?" And that's how every lesson went. It wasn't that Steve was shy or selfish, he wanted you to fish out of him what you needed. So, I learned to come with a laundry list of questions, or tunes, and we'd go from there. Vivid memories- he said Monk had taken off the top of his piano, and put mirrors on the ceiling of his practice space, so he could look up and see what was happening as he played. He talked about playing a gig with Roscoe Mitchell where they played while walking around some kind of maze, doing certain things at certain locations. I still have tapes of some of the lessons, and I have to go back through them.

Steve died well before it was time. When I worked with him he was very active and only becoming more so, using NEC as a springboard for a lot of new work, and overdue recognition of some of his old work. His diagnosis of cancer the summer after I studied with him was a shock to everyone, and in the months before his death he'd seemed to have made a remarkable recovery, and was playing and writing as much and as strong as ever, which made his rapid decline and death that much more painful. Irene Aebi, his wife (and THE interpreter of his songs) says that he's still here, his music is still vital and his spirit is still strong. And I know what she means. But I for one, wish he were here, and miss him, especially today. There's so much more to say, but for now, onward, Steve.