Steve Lacy (saxophonist)

Lacy began his career at sixteen playing Dixieland music with much older musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen, Pee Wee Russell, George "Pops" Foster and Zutty Singleton and then with Kansas City jazz players like Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, and Jimmy Rushing. and appearing with Taylor's groundbreaking quartet at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival; he also made a notable appearance on an early Gil Evans album. and later on Monk's Big Band and Quartet in Concert album (Columbia, 1963). ==Europe and sextet==

Lacy's first visit to Europe came in 1965, with a visit to Copenhagen in the company of Kenny Drew; he went to Italy and formed a quartet with Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava The core of Lacy's activities from the 1970s to the 1990s was his sextet: his wife, singer/violinist Irene Aebi, pianist Bobby Few, bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel, and drummer Oliver Johnson (later John Betsch). He played duos with pianist Eric Watson. Lacy also, beginning in the 1970s, became a specialist in solo saxophone; he ranks with Sonny Rollins, Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, and Lol Coxhill in the development of this demanding form of improvisation. Lacy was interested in all the arts: the visual arts and poetry in particular became important sources for him. As Creeley noted in the Poetry Project Newsletter, "There's no way simply to make clear how particular Steve Lacy was to poets or how much he can now teach them by fact of his own practice and example. No one was ever more generous or perceptive." ==Later career==

In 1992, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the "genius grant"). He also collaborated with a wide range of musicians, from traditional jazz to the avant-garde to contemporary classical music. Outside of his regular sextet, his most regular collaborator was pianist Mal Waldron, One of his last public performances was in front of 25,000 people at the close of a peace rally on Boston Common in March 2003, shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq. After Lacy was diagnosed with liver cancer in August 2003, he continued playing and teaching until weeks before his death on June 4, 2004, at the age of 69. ==Discography==

As leader/co-leader Compilations • Scratching the Seventies/Dreams (Saravah, 1996) • Associates (Musica Jazz, 1996) • Opium with Bill Dixon, Franz Koglmann (Between The Lines, 2001) – rec. 1973-76; compiles tracks from the Koglmann/Lacy album Flaps (Pipe, 1973) and the Koglmann/Dixon album Opium for Franz (Pipe, 1977) • The Complete Whitey Mitchell Sessions (Lone Hill Jazz, 2004) – rec. 1956 • Tao with Andrea Centazzo (Ictus, 2006) – rec. 1976-84 • Early and Late with Roswell Rudd (Cuneiform, 2007) – rec. 1962, 1999, 2002 • The Sun (Emanem, 2012) • Avignon And After Volume 1 (Emanem, 2012) • Avignon And After Volume 2 (Emanem, 2014) With Mal Waldron • Journey Without End (RCA Victor, 1971) • Mal Waldron with the Steve Lacy Quintet (America, 1972) • Hard Talk (Enja, 1974) • One-Upmanship (Enja, 1977) • Moods (Enja, 1978) • Sempre Amore (Soul Note, 1987) – rec. 1986 • The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil (Paddle Wheel, 1987) • Hot House (RCA Novus, 1991) – rec. 1990 • I Remember Thelonious (Nel Jazz, 1996) – rec. 1992 • ''Let's Call This... Esteem'' (Slam, 1993) – live • Communiqué (Soul Note, 1997) • One More Time (2002) • Live at Dreher, Paris 1981 (hatOLOGY, 2003) – compilation • Live at Dreher, Paris 1981, Round Midnight Vol. 1 (hat ART, 1996) • Live at Dreher, Paris 1981, The Peak Vol. 2 (hat ART, 1996) • Japan Dream (2004) • At the Bimhuis 1982 (2006) • The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental, 2024) – rec. 1995 As sideman With Area • Maledetti (Cramps, 1976) • ''Event '76'' (Cramps, 1979) – rec. 1976 With Miles Davis • Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (Columbia , 1962) – rec. 1961 • Quiet Nights (Columbia , 1963) – rec. 1962–63 With Gil Evans • Gil Evans & Ten ( Prestige, 1958) – rec. 1957 • Great Jazz Standards (World Pacific, 1959) • The Individualism of Gil Evans (Verve, 1964) – rec. 1963–64 • Parabola (Horo, 1979) – rec. 1978 With Giorgio Gaslini • Nuovi Sentimenti (La Voce Del Padrone, 1966) • Il Grido: Big Band Live (Durium, 1968) • Fabbrica Occupata (Produttori Associati, 1974) – rec. 1973. also with Jean-Luc Ponty With Globe Unity Orchestra • Evidence, vol.1 (FMP, 1976) – rec. 1975 • Into the Valley, vol.2 (FMP, 1976) – rec. 1975 With Roswell Rudd • Blown Bone (Philips, 1979) – rec. 1976 • Broad Strokes (Knitting Factory, 2000) With Dick Sutton • Jazz Idiom (Jaguar, 1954)[10"] • Progressive Dixieland (Jaguar, 1954)[10"] With Cecil Taylor • Jazz Advance (Transition, 1957) – rec. 1956 • At Newport (Verve, 1958) – also with Gigi Gryce. rec 1957. With Giovanni Tommaso • Indefinitive Atmosphere (SR, 1970) – rec. 1968 • La Banda Del Cibo Salutare (RCA, 1970) With others • Tom Stewart, Quintet/Sextet (ABC-Paramount, 1956) • Whitey Mitchell Sextette, Whitey Mitchell Sextette (Sparton, 1956) • Thelonious Monk, Big Band and Quartet in Concert (Columbia, 1964) – rec. 1963 • Bobby Hackett, Hello Louis (Epic, 1964) • Kenny Burrell, Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965) – rec. 1964 • Jazz Composers Orchestra, Communication (Fontana, 1965) – rec. 1964–65 • Gary Burton, A Genuine Tong Funeral (RCA, 1968) – rec. 1967 • Alan Silva, Seasons (BYG Actuel, 1971) – rec. 1970 • Maria Monti, Il Bestiario (Rifi, 1974) • Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln, Sounds as a Roach (Joker, 1977) – rec. 1968 • Derek Bailey's Company, Company 4 (Incus, 1977) – rec. 1976 • Musica Elettronica Viva, United Patchwork (Horo, 1977) • Kenny Davern, Unexpected (Kharma, 1978) • Laboratorio della Quercia, Laboratorio della Quercia del Tasso (Horo, 1978) • Globe Unity Orchestra, Compositions (Japo, 1980) – rec. 1979 • V.A., Amarcord Nino Rota (Corbett Vs. Dempsey, 1980) • Tiziana Ghiglioni, Somebody Special (Soul Note, 1986) • Company, Company, vol. 5, 6, 7 (Incus, 1991) – rec. 1977 • V.A., Interpretations Of Monk (DIW, 1994) – rec. 1981 • Joe Puma, Wild Kitten (Dawn, 1998) – 2 tracks in reissued version • Hans Koller, London Ear (33 Records, 2005) featuring Steve Lacy - rec. 2003 ==References==