STEVE LACY – Dreams (LP-1975 / Saravah – SH 10058)

Label: Saravah – SH 10058

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: France / Released: 1975

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded at Saravah Studios Paris, May 12-15-1975

Artwork [Cover Art] – Claude Bellegarde

Engineer – Christian Jence

Photography By [Photos] – Bunny Brissett

Producer – Pierre Barouh

Technician [Assistant] – Larry Martin

A1 - The Uh Uh Uh .............................................................. 7:20

A2 - Dreams ......................................................................... 3:05

A3 - The Oil ......................................................................... 9:10

B1 - The Wane ................................................................... 10:00

B2 - Crops ............................................................................ 7:00

Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone, composed

Steve Potts – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone

Derek Bailey – guitar

Jean-Jacques Avenel – bass

Kent Carter – bass

Irene Aebi – voice, cello

Kenneth Tyler – drums, percussion

featuring:

guitar – Boulou Ferré (tracks: A2, B2), Jack Treese (tracks: A2, B2)

Dreams is easily Lacy's greatest moment from the 70s, and the one that sounds, simultaneously, most and least like him.

Recorded at Saravah's studios in Paris in May 1975, Dreams is the fourth of five albums cut for the label by Steve Lacy between 1969 (Roba) and 1977 (The Owl) -- the intervening pair being 1971's Lapis and 1974's Scraps -- and features the soprano saxophonist in the company of his favorite playing partners, altoist Steve Potts, bassists Kent Carter and Jean-Jacques Avenel, guitarist Derek Bailey, drummer Ken Tyler, and not forgetting the composer's partner, Irene Aebi on cello and vocals on the dreamy, almost Debussyesque setting of Brion Gysin's permutational poem "Dreams." For the occasion, the group is joined by Saravah regulars guitarists Boulou Ferre and Jack Treese, who also contributes some spindly banjo to the closing "Crops." It's quintessential Lacy, all relentless harmonic cycles with saxophones locked together a whole- or half-tone apart, but extraordinarily varied in scope nevertheless, running the gamut from the twisted psychedelic funk of "The Uh Uh Uh" to the rolling free folk of "Crops," via the tense, claustrophobic weave of "The Oil." On this, the tough nut of the set, Bailey's pinched Webernian splutters are the perfect foil for the rigorous saxophone dirge, and his volleys of harmonics complement Treese's fingerpicking to perfection in "Crops." And anyone who still doubts Lacy's consummate mastery of his instrument needs only to check out the ease with which he negotiates the ferociously difficult theme in "The Wane."

As the story unfolds one small piece at a time over this LP, the vision of the man comes clearly into view and his true genius is revealed. Lacy saw jazz in the 70s as a way to make sense of the entire world -- a world in transition and fragmentation. His musical view was all-inclusive (Bailey's rock and funk moves on the Dreams album) and sought order using a musical language that would open the doors to dialogue: first with musicians and then with other artists everywhere. The amazing thing is that -- at least in the avant-garde music world -- he succeeded: because everyone there cites him as an influence...........

Enjoy!

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STEVE LACY / ROSWELL RUDD / KENT CARTER / BEAVER HARRIS – Trickles (LP-1976)

Label: Black Saint – BSR 0008

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: US / Released: 1976

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded on March 11 and 14, 1976 at Generation Sound Studios, New York City.

Engineer – Tony May

Painting [Cover Paintings] – Kenneth Noland

Photography By – Nina Melis

Producer – Giocomo Pelliciotti

Steve Lacy / soprano saxophone, composed

Roswell Rudd / trombone, chimes on B2

Kent Carter / bass

Beaver Harris / drums, percussion

... ''For me it was a chance to explore some great music, specifically that of Thelonious Monk. Steve was further down the road, having already released recordings of Monk's music. He even played in Monk's band. So the shared passion for this music became a special focus for us. There was not a week that went by that we didn't rehearse. Steve and I would play regardless of whether bass or drums would show up. This devotion, happening as it did in our early 20s, was to become a fulcrum into the future for us, a permanent musical, even emotional, bond.

The joy of the sound that we got stemming from Monk's high musical intelligence was enough for me. However Steve's vision included more; for him it was also about realizing the commercial potential of this sound. Thankfully there was an entrepreneurial side to him that would serve him abundantly in the years ahead - and many other performers, myself included, would also benefit from this. But here in NYC in the early '60s, that commercial breakthrough never quite happened. For instance, when Steve found a flea-ridden, dark basement beneath Harut's Restaurant in the West Village, I went home, got my hammer, nails and saw. We cleaned up the space and built a platform out of scrap lumber to play on. This was where we first played out in 1961. We passed the hat for six months before moving on to better venues. Finally it was our poet friend Paul Haines who recorded us on a borrowed tape machine in a coffee shop that was released on Emanem Records a few years later as School Days, with Henry Grimes (bass) and Denis Charles (drums). This went through several re-releases in different formats and it has become a favorite collector's item. When Steve pulled up stakes and went to Europe in 1963 he hit the ground running and eventually attracted American musicians residing in Europe as well as European musicians who were drawn into the Monk mystique and Steve's passion for the music. From this point on he would develop the shank of a career spanning the next 40 years. In fact, all and more of the opportunities denied to him in NYC in the early '60s, he would realize in Europe and other parts of the planet, including NYC and America. His musical spirit would produce many remarkable solo performances as well as unique ensembles including his wife, violinist/vocalist Irene Aebi. There is a formidable body of original music that came out of all this.

Thus during the years 1964-2004 I followed his career and although we were living and pursuing whatever we could on two different continents, there were occasional opportunities to touch base or do things together here or in Europe. Over there in 1965 he told me “I'm free now. I'm playing free,” and he was now writing and recording his own material for the first time. In 1976 a little known album called Blown Bone was recorded in NYC, featuring all my compositions. And Trickles (Soul Note) featured music by Steve with Beaver Harris (drums) and Kent Carter (bass). This was actually the first time I played Steve's music. It had a similar deliberate quality to it reminiscent of Monk''...

_ ROSWELL RUDD

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STEVE LACY FIVE – The Way (1979) - 2CD-2004

Label: hatOLOGY – hatOLOGY 2-604

Format: 2 × CD, Album, Reissue, Limited Edition

Country: Switzerland - Released: 2004

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Recorded live on 23 January 1979, at Stadttheater Basel, Switzerland

Design [Graphic Concept] – fuhrer vienna

Liner Notes – John Corbett

Mastered By – Peter Pfister

Photography By [Cover Photo] – Thomas Wunsch

Producer – Werner X. Uehlinger

This double-CD reissues the nine numbers from a former double LP, adding three previously unreleased tunes from the same Switzerland concert. The Steve Lacy Five is at its best on scalar-based instrumentals such as the near-classic "Blinks." The many strong solos by Lacy and the highly underrated altoist Potts makes this two-fer of interest for followers of advanced jazz. This was always a well-organized and highly original group.

1-01  Stamps . . . 5:46

1-02  Blinks . . . 10:45

1-03  Troubles . . . 9:59

1-04  Raps . . . 11:31

1-05  Dreams . . . 9:17

2-01  Existence . . . 8:40

2-02  The Way . . . 8:30

2-03  Bone . . . 8:50

2-04  Name . . . 12:57

2-05  The Breath . . . 12:00

2-06  Life On Its Way . . . 11:05

2-07  Swiss Duck . . . 5:53

STEVE LACY – Soprano Saxophone

STEVE POTTS – Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone

IRENE AEBI – Cello, Violin, Voice

KENT CARTER – Double Bass

OLIVER JOHNSON – Drums, Percussion

The great Steve Lacy, recently departed, made many records, but this one captures a great ensemble at the peak of its creative powers. It's a two-CD set from one concert in Basel in 1979, and it's hard to believe that so much great music was played in one sitting.

"Stamps has Lacy's signature angular, repeated (almost minimalist, à la Terry Riley or Steve Reich) phrases that function in the role of the traditional jazz head. Drummer Oliver Johnson plays through the repeated motives with waves of drums and cymbals that subsequently provide a bridge into improvisations that start over an A and D drone. They are both sensitive and bold, modern yet linked to an ancient inner human voice. The band falls back into the repeated motives naturally, ends, and after a very brief pause launches into "Blinks. Here Kent Carter's perfectly calibrated bass playing propels altoist Steve Potts through a gratifying solo. Then Lacy himself takes center stage and delivers a solo with sophisticated lines, growling effects, and minimalist motives building to a roar and then subsiding to a whisper, dovetailing perfectly into Irene Aebi's cello solo.

In "Troubles, we get the rare treat of hearing Steve Lacy's singing voice. Irene Aebi plays the role of the "straight voice against Lacy, who purposely alters each melodic phrase while they both sing the same words. Johnson and Carter provide a broad swing beat for intense, swirling improvisations. "Dreams sets up an impressionistic soundscape, complete with sensitive sound effects. Brion Gysin's words end the piece in a touching, concise way.

Disc two is where the suite "The Way begins. The music, inspired by the text to the "Tao Te Ching, is incredible. "Existence becomes a swinging, chromatically rising bass figure that never fails in energy or inspiration. Irene Aebi may have her detractors, but her vocal performances throughout the suite are really powerful. Indeed, the entire band is incredibly focused and we get to hear more nuance and depth from everyone in a way that we don't experience on the first CD. "Bone starts with a kind of cartoon conga-line rhythm. Again the collective improvisation is breathtaking, but always with the overview of the form in mind.

The final section of the suite, "Life On Its Way, starts with a very sensitive drum solo that segues into the two soprano saxophones playing "off stage and the violin evoking the Chinese erhu. "Life On it's Way draws the listener in as perhaps the most dramatic and narrative piece of the suite, and it ends with what seems like appropriate thoughtfulness. The audience reaction swells, almost as if people quickly realized the incredible journey the suite took them on, and the rhythmic clapping brings on "Swiss Duck, the encore.

The last vocal line from this version of "Bone is "...vitality clings to the marrow, leaving death behind. Lacy's music lives on, leaving death behind. The Way is an easy contender for best reissue of 2005.

_ By FRANCIS LO KEE, June 16, 2005 (AAJ)

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