Steve Lacy

Steve Lacy ranks among history’s foremost soprano saxophonists, sharing that distinction with Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane; watching the arc of his professional life unfold proved endlessly absorbing. Initially balancing clarinet with soprano—phasing out the former by the mid-1950s—he took early inspiration from Bechet and joined veteran players such as Rex Stewart, Cecil Scott, and Red Allen for Dixieland engagements across New York between 1952 and 1955. His first appearance on record came in 1954 alongside Dick Sutton in a refreshed Dixieland setting. Soon afterward Lacy bypassed intervening styles altogether, immersing himself in free jazz with Cecil Taylor from 1955 to 1957; the two documented their work and appeared together at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. He also recorded with Gil Evans that same year, beginning a sporadic partnership that extended into the 1980s. Four months in 1960 found Lacy inside Thelonious Monk’s quintet, after which he co-led a quartet with Roswell Rudd from 1961 to 1964 devoted exclusively to Monk’s repertoire; the sole recording to survive is a 1963 live session issued by Emanem.

Widely acknowledged as the first modern improviser to concentrate solely on soprano—an instrument largely ignored throughout the bop years—Lacy shifted toward avant-garde exploration in 1965. A quartet featuring Enrico Rava spent eight months working in South America, after which Lacy returned to New York for a year before relocating permanently to Europe in 1967; three years in Italy preceded his settlement in Paris. Over time his approach moved from open-ended freedom toward structured improvisation based on his own scalar compositions. By 1977 he had assembled a steady ensemble—alto and soprano saxophonist Steve Potts, violinist and singer Irene Aebi (Lacy’s wife), bassist Kent Carter (later replaced by Jean-Jacques Avenel), and drummer Oliver Johnson—that remained his primary vehicle for the rest of his career; pianist Bobby Few joined in the 1980s. Additional projects regularly paired him with Gil Evans, Mal Waldron, and Misha Mengelberg, among others, while his activities spanned solo recitals, further Monk tributes, big-band appearances, and settings of poetry to music.

Countless sessions for numerous labels document this activity; Sands appeared on Tzadik in 1998 and Cry on Soul Note in 1999. His earliest dates, spanning 1957–1961, were issued by Prestige, New Jazz, and Candid, whereas later work most often surfaced on Hat Art, Black Saint/Soul Note, and Novus. After enduring cancer for several years, Lacy died in June 2004. Fresh live recordings drawn from every period continue to surface, sustaining and expanding his influence.