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Steve Lacy


Late

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  • 4 weeks later...
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This may sound kind of crazy, especially coming from a self-professed Lacy-phile, but I hadn't heard Reflections in years. Finally picked up a JP vinyl copy the other day to "try it again," and it is so great. Especially great because I know what came after, and how important Monk was to both Steve and Mal - as a bridge to serious sonic expansion and investigation. I hadn't heard it since owning a CD copy briefly about ten years ago; at that time, I was itching for something else and didn't keep it.

Just thought I'd share.

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  • 9 months later...

News from Atavistic regarding a series of unissued Lacy concerts:

alp260_mini250.jpg

Steve Lacy Quintet, 1975: Esteem

The first in a series of recordings from Steve Lacy's cassette archive — authorized by Irene Aebi.

"When Steve Lacy passed away in June, 2004, he left behind an archive of more than 300 private recordings – mostly cassette tapes of concerts dating from the 1970s up until his final months.  Many feature his longtime quintet and subsequent sextet, as well as trio, duo and solo performances; some revisit old friendships, some present unique collaborations, while others document special projects that never quite found their way to the recording studio.  In all of these, the same adventurous spirit prevails, the same calm integrity.

This series, The Leap: Steve Lacy Cassette Archives, aims to make available significant performances in a remarkably fertile career.  It will showcase Lacy with his regular associates as well as others, playing music heard elsewhere in different contexts and also music only heard just once.  By so doing, may it deepen the listener’s sense of a singular body of work." -Jason Weiss, editor, STEVE LACY: CONVERSATIONS

Esteem features Lacy’s working quintet one lively night at La Cour des Miracles, a Paris club the group frequented at the time.  The musicians were in residence there for most of February, 1975, and again through much of December- featuring Lacy (soprano sax), Steve Potts (alto/soprano saxes), Aebi (cello/violin), Kent Carter (bass), and Kenneth Tyler (percussion).

300 recordings? I don't know whether to use :mellow: or :o.

As for further recommendations — I'd say (to anyone) keep plugging away at Lacy's Hat Art catalog. That group puts forth a consistent high quality of work, live or studio. I'm still hoping a cd issue of Ballets can come out while Werner X. has subsidies. Right now, strangely enough, I have everything that saw cd issue on Hat except Flim Flam.

Edited by Late
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News from Atavistic regarding a series of unissued Lacy concerts:

alp260_mini250.jpg

Steve Lacy Quintet, 1975: Esteem

The first in a series of recordings from Steve Lacy's cassette archive — authorized by Irene Aebi.

Listening to this right now, it's awesome. The fidelity is what you'd expect from a cassette recording, but the performance is fantastic, some of the most fiery stuff I've heard under Lacy's name....

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The easier way to get it...

I go from a different medium, sorry!

Speaking of intense Lacy, there's a super-firey Lacy-Potts lineup on Esthilacos (Guilda da Musica, 1971) which I believe is Potts' first recording with the group. Lacy's screaming like a banshee on this one - more slabs than snips, I'd say...

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  • 2 months later...

Up...

as I'm currently enjoying the Hatology set "Live at Dreher" 1981, very passionate but highly enjoyable set , also picked up a very cheap DVD entitled "Steve Lacy -Master of the soprano sax"- it features the only slighlty scary Irene Aebi- my first exposure and I'm pleasantly surprised.

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Up...

as I'm currently enjoying the Hatology set "Live at Dreher" 1981, very passionate but highly enjoyable set , also picked up a very cheap DVD entitled "Steve Lacy -Master of the soprano sax"- it features the only slighlty scary Irene Aebi- my first exposure and I'm pleasantly surprised.

From the way some people talk, I was expecting Madame Aebi to have some kind of Yoko Ono/Diamanda Galas thing going on, but the evidence at least from "Scratching the Seventies" (great stuff!) doesn't support such aversion, at least to my mind.

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The rap on Aebi is undeserved. Her vocals may be an acquired taste to some, but she never ruins the music. I think she compliments Lacy (and Potts) quite nicely. It’s not like Yoko warbling in that Lennon Christmas song.

If a friend is convinced that Irene Aebi ruins Lacy's music, I play Vespers on Soul Note - it causes open-eared listeners to reconsider their criticism.

charles

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The rap on Aebi is undeserved. Her vocals may be an acquired taste to some, but she never ruins the music. I think she compliments Lacy (and Potts) quite nicely. It’s not like Yoko warbling in that Lennon Christmas song.

If a friend is convinced that Irene Aebi ruins Lacy's music, I play Vespers on Soul Note - it causes open-eared listeners to reconsider their criticism.

charles

She's brilliant on Vespers--that album may be one of the more fully integrated examples of jazz/free improv and vocalized poetry. On a related note: having just picked up a copy of Scratching the Seventies, I'm extremely impressed by Lacy's use of multitracking (Aebi on "Dreams" is just powerful, dominating stuff).

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what about "Songs" on Hatology, any good?

well I'll answer my own question. It's a pretty adventurous set by any standards and out there by comparison to other Lacy I have ( Morning Joy, Ny Capers.., The Door, Dutch Masters, Live at Dreher , Work) but I found it pretty compelling. I really like what Aebi adds to the date especially on the opening track of this disc. Some of the latter tracks are very weird but I have no regrets on this one even if I did order it in error....

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  • 3 months later...

Sortie

1. Sortie 12:00

2. Black Elk 10:00

3. Helmy 2:20

4. Fork New York 14:00

5. Living T. Blues 3:40

6. 2-Fou 0:03

Steve Lacy: soprano saxophone

Enrico Rava: trumpet

Kent Carter: bass

Aldo Romano: drums

recorded February 7, 1966

Milan, Italy

For my money, this record is stronger than both Disposability and The Forest and The Zoo. Excellent playing all around.

Edited by Late
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It was issued on GTA and reissued on International Polydor (with a different cover). Both are not "cheap" by any means, which I would say demands a proper CD reissue!

Probably won't happen, but I hope I'm wrong! Of course, a person could use that link above to have it on CD®. No, wait! It's a download! :P

Along with School Days from 1963, Sortie might be Lacy's best from the 60's. It's indeed a shame it's not better known.

If I could write a check for, say, $15.99 to Irène Aëbi to have this as an actual CD, I'd do it in a heartbeat. She's sitting on so much un-reissued stuff that it's probably overwhelming.

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It was issued on GTA and reissued on International Polydor (with a different cover). Both are not "cheap" by any means, which I would say demands a proper CD reissue!

Probably won't happen, but I hope I'm wrong! Of course, a person could use that link above to have it on CD®. No, wait! It's a download! :P

Along with School Days from 1963, Sortie might be Lacy's best from the 60's. It's indeed a shame it's not better known.

If I could write a check for, say, $15.99 to Irène Aëbi to have this as an actual CD, I'd do it in a heartbeat. She's sitting on so much un-reissued stuff that it's probably overwhelming.

And FWIW, I would rather see the UMS Lacy archive delve into weird '60s groups than live extras from the Saravah period, as good as that shit is.

I used to have doubles of Sortie, but traded one for Groupcomposing and a couple of Surman records... thought it was a deal at the time!

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