Rob C Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 What do you all think of Dutch Masters? I have too little Misha Mengelberg. I've been listening to a lot of Lacy in the past week (and searching out threads on him, obviously). What a master. Anyway, I happened to pick up Dutch Masters last weekend. It's really good. Basically, a "blowing session", head-solos-head type of thing, relaxed and very enjoyable. You can't go wrong with the band: Mengelberg, Lacy, George Lewis, Ernst Reyseger and Han Bennink. Two comps each by Lacy, Mengelberg and (of course) Monk. I haven't heard Change of Season or Regeneration, earlier records by similarly constituted bands, but Dutch Masters is a winner. I'm curious about The Beat Suite. I could get a reasonably cheap copy, but I haven't seen a whole lot about it on the boards. Anybody have any thoughts...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeith Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 One of the more recent of the duets with Waldron came out, I want to say, not that long ago, and is called Communique and I really like that one a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted June 9, 2004 Report Share Posted June 9, 2004 I was listening to Gil Evans & Ten the other day, and was struck by how fully formed Lacy already was by '57. Me too. I just got it in SACD. It's a hybrid with the cd in stereo for the first time. Worthwhile even if you don't have an SACD player. (To be honest I barely hear any difference-- but my ears are shot from too many rock concerts and too much time on mixing stages.) There's a new biography of Gil in which the author states that Evans took a huge chance giving such a new comer so much solo space. It sure paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue lake Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 (edited) Finally opened up Monk at Town Hall only to realize Lacy isn't there; he shows up in the Monk Big Band at Lincoln Center in 1963. Has anyone heard the Monk Quartet of 1960 with Lacy in Monk's band? Also, do any of you remember the Chicago Jazz Festival concert in the 1980's (?) when a Monk re-union Big Band played Hall Overton and Oliver Nelson's arrangements of Monk's music from the Lincoln Center AND Town Hall concerts? The buzz at the time, if I'm remembering clearly, was that Lacy didn't solo on the 1963 concert -- the recording features Thad Jones, Phil Woods, Charlie Rouse, Monk and Frankie Dunlap in solo roles. Yet, Lacy's voice in the heads and occasional soloist-prompting ensemble riffs is clear and distinctly blended giving the music added character. He's up on Monk's phrasing, accent, swing, line. I can't remember if he told me or if I heard the subject of him not soloing in 63 discussed on WBEZ (?) but I think he said he was glad he didn't because of nerves next to Rouse, Woods and Jones in that context. In any case, the Chicago re-union bore a sense of righteousness for giving Lacy a chance to be heard soloing in those charts. If anyone cares to set that straight, by all means. Edited June 10, 2004 by blue lake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue lake Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Andrew McKinnon posted this on rec.music.bluenote March 18, 2000 and the print out has been on my office wall ever since. Steve Lacy, when asked by Derek Bailey to describe in 15 seconds the difference between composition and improvisation: "In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds." Of course this description came in at exactly 15 seconds long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Also, do any of you remember the Chicago Jazz Festival concert in the 1980's (?) when a Monk re-union Big Band played Hall Overton and Oliver Nelson's arrangements of Monk's music from the Lincoln Center AND Town Hall concerts No Oliver Nelson charts performed at Town Hall, Philharmonic Hall or the Chicago reunion. Thank God for that. I do have a tape of the reunion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Also, do any of you remember the Chicago Jazz Festival concert in the 1980's (?) when a Monk re-union Big Band played Hall Overton and Oliver Nelson's arrangements of Monk's music from the Lincoln Center AND Town Hall concerts No Oliver Nelson charts performed at Town Hall, Philharmonic Hall or the Chicago reunion. Thank God for that. I do have a tape of the reunion. Not a fan of Oliver's??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Not a fan of Oliver's??? Not as an interpreter of Thelonious Monk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Gotcha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Then you must *really* hate Marsallis' album of Monk tunes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 Thanks Chuck -- couldn't recall for sure. So Nelson only arranged that one Columbia studio session of Monk's music...? Was Don Sickler involved in transcribing anything for that re-union concert, or where those all straight from Overton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 10, 2004 Report Share Posted June 10, 2004 I like Blinks as well. I have 17 CDs with Lacy under his name (and a few more under Waldron's name with Lacy on them), and have been listening to them. Such beautiful playing. I was thinking of getting a couple more. Does anyone have an opinion on Vespers? The Rent? A Lacy story, which I think I told before. I saw him at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles in 1998 (or maybe late 97). At the time, I was trying to reach Mal Waldron, because I had put together a Shirley Clarke retrospective and wanted a comment from Waldron on Clarke and "The Cool World." I went up to Lacy after the show (eminently approachable) and asked him how I might get ahold of Waldron. Lacy just rattled off Waldron's home phone number in Brussels. Such a nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesp Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 Adam, VESPERS is an outstanding cd, with a major contribution from Ricky Ford, and Tom Varner's french horn added to the Lacy sextet of the time - Lacy, Potts, Few, Aebi, Avenal and Betsch. I think that it is an "essential" Lacy recording - but be aware that Irene Aebi does sing translations of Blaga Dimitrova's poetry. THE RENT is a very well-recorded live concert (2 sets on 2 discs) of Lacy's trio playing Lacy's compositions and Monk's "Shuffle Boil" - Steve only tackled the "easy" Monk compositions. You will not regret either purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 "Vespers" is great, indeed! (Don't have "The Rent") ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob C Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 I just got two more Lacys, The Beat Suite and The Cry. Both are quite good, and I'm especially fond of The Beat Suite. I'm definitely coming around to Aebi's voice (every tune on both records is based on her singing of poems), which has taken me some time. (If nothing else, given Lacy's comments about her as his muse, and her role in his work of setting words to music, I have to imagine that his music would be a different and perhaps lesser thing without her.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alankin Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 My favorite Lacy with Aebi vocals is his Tao suite, "The Way." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted July 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 That is a great album, Alan. I especially like the (previously unissued) version of "Troubles." Lacy sings! Have any of you picked up this one? What's it like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 this one is stuck in my cd player! Duets: Associates is a great cd! anybody(everybody) agree? B-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Д.Д. Posted September 25, 2004 Report Share Posted September 25, 2004 this one is stuck in my cd player! Duets: Associates is a great cd! anybody(everybody) agree? B-) I agree! The only thing, sound quality varies significantly betwen tracks and it's a bit unnoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted September 26, 2004 Report Share Posted September 26, 2004 this one is stuck in my cd player! Duets: Associates is a great cd! anybody(everybody) agree? B-) I agree! The only thing, sound quality varies significantly betwen tracks and it's a bit unnoying. Another YES vote here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Shortly before he left Paris in 2002, Steve Lacy took part in the recording of the soundtrack of the film 'Sansa' directed by Siegfried. The film which I have not seen was released earlier this year in France. So was the soundtrack CD which seems to be a limited edition issue. It came out on the Naive label. Steve Lacy plays on a couple of tracks. Other featured musicians are violonist Ivry Gitlis and trumpet player Erik Truffaz. There is a website for this film: http://www.vagabondages.net/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool_blue Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I just ordered my first Steve Lacy Lp today, a 70's reissue of "The Straight Horn". Looking forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 My favorite Lacy with Aebi vocals is his Tao suite, "The Way." I used to have that one on LP and didn't like it much, but just was handed the new 2CD set with extra tracks and am enjoying it quite a bit now. Funny how time and distance change one's opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted October 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 A good set to play after The Way is Blinks. Both live, and some overlap of tunes — for useful comparison. I can't think of any other horn player that plays eighth notes quite like Lacy. Even as far back as '54, his conception of "swinging" eighth notes was his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 I have very few Lacy CDs but would love to hear more, these are great recommendations. REFLECTIONS I love - some of the best Monk interpretations ever. He's great with Herbie Nichols too - recently got a used copy of the disc that I think was under Mengelberg's name CHANGE OF SEASON: THE MUSIC OF HERBIE NICHOLS (Soul Note). As much as I like the Herbie Nichols Project (and I like them a LOT, especially their first disc LOVE IS PROXIMITY), I have to say this CD puts all of theirs in the dust, in large part due to Lacy's getting so far inside Nichols' head. I recently scored a copy of the out of print Novus CD ANTHEM which is outstanding and has made me want to explore more from that particular configuration of musicians he was using around that time. All the Novus discs look really promising based on the AMG writeups at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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