Steve Lacy: Conversations

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Steve Lacy

Conversations

Edited by:

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2006

About this book

A collection of thirty-four interviews with the innovative soprano saxophonist and jazz composer Steve Lacy (1934–2004).

Author / Editor information

Jason Weiss is the author of The Lights of Home: A Century of Latin American Writers in Paris and the forthcoming novel Faces by the Wayside. He is the editor of Back in No Time: The Brion Gysin Reader.

Reviews

“A phenomenal interviewee. . . . Whether [Steve Lacy] was making bold predictions on future directions of the music, describing his fascinating projects, laying forth broad challenges to himself and other artists, or making succinct observations of the musical world he inhabited, Lacy’s words proved to be almost as interesting as his music.”—Down Beat, on inducting Lacy into the Down Beat Hall of Fame

“Steve Lacy’s soul-rending sounds emerge out of the chaos of our times like the announcement of the beautiful nonviolent anarchist revolution. In the passionate intelligence of his compositions, every note is the sound of freedom.”—Judith Malina, actress, writer, and co-founder of the Living Theatre

“[A] heart-rending, ear- and eye-opening book. It is a knock-out, an omelette aux fines herbes, an impeccable Lacy line of weird angles and implied major seconds. A bag full of Dixie, borscht-belt air, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, Gil Evans, Musica Elettronica Viva, the road, Rome, Paris, New York, Asia, Boston, backstage philosophy, painters, poets and corduroy. A life of roaming music lessons on stage and in the streets, in museums and at home—compositions all, that most professors have long excluded from their curriculae. No sour grapes nor sentimental journey in this book, just the pure straight dope.”

-- Alvin Curran New York Times

“This is an exemplary project, carefully planned, lovingly assembled and handsomely produced. Conversations is a fitting tribute to a giant of modern jazz.”

-- Stuart Kremsky International Association of Jazz Record Collectors Journal

“Weiss’s cogent introductions to each interview effectively fill in the chronology of Lacy’s life and contextualize his evolution as a musician. . . . An interview with The Wire . . ., a John Corbett interview in Downbeat . . . and an interview with Ben Ratliff all feel like intimate conversations you just happen to have overheard. They are as lovely, offbeat, and surprising as Lacy’s compositions.”

-- Stephanie Hanson Bookforum

"This well-illustrated and attractively produced book collects interviews with Lacy and presents them chronologically. . . . [A] fitting tribute to one of the supreme masters of [the pure improvised] movement."

-- Andy Hamilton The Wire

Topics

Architecture Architecture and Design, other

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Frontmatter
i

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Contents
vii

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Acknowledgments
xi

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Introduction
1

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Part 1. Interviews with Steve Lacy
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1. Introducing Steve Lacy (1959)
13

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2. My Favorite Thing (1961)
17

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3. The Land of Monk (1963)
20

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4. Goodbye, New York (GarthW. Caylor, Jr., 1965)
24

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5. Faithful Lacy (Philippe Carles, 1965)
33

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6. Twenty-six New Jazzmen Put to the Question (1965)
41

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7. Steve Lacy Speaks (Paul Gros-Claude, 1971)
43

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8. Improvisation (Derek Bailey, 1974)
48

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9. Evidence and Reflections (Alain-René Hardy and Philippe Quinsac, 1976)
52

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10. On Play and Process, and Musical Instincts (Raymond Gervais and Yves Bouliane, 1976)
62

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11. In the Spirit (Roberto Terlizzi, 1976)
78

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12. The Spark, the Gap, the Leap (Brian Case, 1979)
84

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13. In Search of theWay ( JasonWeiss, 1980)
97

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14. Songs: Steve Lacy and Brion Gysin ( JasonWeiss, 1981)
104

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15. Unrecognized Giant? (Xavier Prévost, 1982)
109

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16. Futurities (Isabelle Galloni d’Istria, 1984)
111

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17. The Solitude of the Long-Distance Player (Gérard Rouy, 1987)
115

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18. On Practicing, and Exploring the Instrument (Kirk Silsbee, 1988)
123

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19. Art is Made to Trouble (Christian Gauffre, 1990)
130

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20. Shop Talk (Mel Martin, 1990)
133

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21. It’s Got to Be Alive (Ben Ratliff, 1991)
138

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22. Regarding the Voice: Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi ( JasonWeiss, 1993)
146

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23. A Petite Fleur for S. B. (Philippe Carles, 1994)
156

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24. Sculpture and Jazz (Alain Kirili, 1994)
158

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25. One Shouldn’t Make Too Much Noise, There’s Enough Already (Franck Médioni, 1995)
163

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26. Living Lacy (Gérard Rouy, 1995)
166

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27. Scratching the Seventies (Étienne Brunet, 1996)
167

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28. Forget Paris ( John Corbett, 1996)
185

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29. In the Old Days (Lee Friedlander and Maria Friedlander, 1997)
193

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30. The Glorious Thirty (Franck Bergerot and Alex Dutilh, 2000)
208

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31. Farewell Paris (Gérard Rouy, 2002)
212

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32. Invisible Jukebox (Christoph Cox, 2002)
217

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33. Big Kisses from Boston (Franck Médioni, 2003)
226

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34. The Art of the Song: Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi (Ed Hazell, 2004)
228

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Part 2. Writings by Steve Lacy
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1. MEV Notes (ca. 1968)
244

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2. Roba (early 1970s)
248

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3. Garden Variety (ca. 1974)
249

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4. FMP: 10 Years Jubilee (ca. 1979)
250

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5. What about Monk? (1980)
251

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6. He Flew (1980)
253

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7. In the Upper Air: Albert Ayler (1996)
256

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8. Shiro and I (1997
257

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9. Short Takes (1998
258

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10. Yoshizawa (1998)
260

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11. Made in France (2000)
261

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12. Song Sources (undated)
266

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13. Residency Statement (2004)
267

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Part 3. Song Scores
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Dreams (1975)
272

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Mind’s Heart (1982)
273

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3 Haiku (1998)
274

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Selected Discography
277

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Credits
281

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Index
283

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

August 9, 2006

eBook ISBN:

9780822388586

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

304

Other:

39 b&w photos

This book is in the series

e-Duke books scholarly collection

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822388586

eBook ISBN: 9780822388586

Audience(s) for this book

Professional and scholarly;

Duke University Press

Steve Lacy

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Introducing Steve Lacy (1959)

2. My Favorite Thing (1961)

3. The Land of Monk (1963)

4. Goodbye, New York (GarthW. Caylor, Jr., 1965)

5. Faithful Lacy (Philippe Carles, 1965)

6. Twenty-six New Jazzmen Put to the Question (1965)

7. Steve Lacy Speaks (Paul Gros-Claude, 1971)

8. Improvisation (Derek Bailey, 1974)

9. Evidence and Reflections (Alain-René Hardy and Philippe Quinsac, 1976)

10. On Play and Process, and Musical Instincts (Raymond Gervais and Yves Bouliane, 1976)

11. In the Spirit (Roberto Terlizzi, 1976)

12. The Spark, the Gap, the Leap (Brian Case, 1979)

13. In Search of theWay ( JasonWeiss, 1980)

14. Songs: Steve Lacy and Brion Gysin ( JasonWeiss, 1981)

15. Unrecognized Giant? (Xavier Prévost, 1982)

16. Futurities (Isabelle Galloni d’Istria, 1984)

17. The Solitude of the Long-Distance Player (Gérard Rouy, 1987)

18. On Practicing, and Exploring the Instrument (Kirk Silsbee, 1988)

19. Art is Made to Trouble (Christian Gauffre, 1990)

20. Shop Talk (Mel Martin, 1990)

21. It’s Got to Be Alive (Ben Ratliff, 1991)

22. Regarding the Voice: Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi ( JasonWeiss, 1993)

23. A Petite Fleur for S. B. (Philippe Carles, 1994)

24. Sculpture and Jazz (Alain Kirili, 1994)

25. One Shouldn’t Make Too Much Noise, There’s Enough Already (Franck Médioni, 1995)

26. Living Lacy (Gérard Rouy, 1995)

27. Scratching the Seventies (Étienne Brunet, 1996)

28. Forget Paris ( John Corbett, 1996)

29. In the Old Days (Lee Friedlander and Maria Friedlander, 1997)

30. The Glorious Thirty (Franck Bergerot and Alex Dutilh, 2000)

31. Farewell Paris (Gérard Rouy, 2002)

32. Invisible Jukebox (Christoph Cox, 2002)

33. Big Kisses from Boston (Franck Médioni, 2003)

34. The Art of the Song: Steve Lacy and Irene Aebi (Ed Hazell, 2004)

1. MEV Notes (ca. 1968)

2. Roba (early 1970s)

3. Garden Variety (ca. 1974)

4. FMP: 10 Years Jubilee (ca. 1979)

5. What about Monk? (1980)

6. He Flew (1980)

7. In the Upper Air: Albert Ayler (1996)

8. Shiro and I (1997

9. Short Takes (1998

10. Yoshizawa (1998)

11. Made in France (2000)

12. Song Sources (undated)

13. Residency Statement (2004)

Dreams (1975)

Mind’s Heart (1982)

3 Haiku (1998)

Selected Discography

Credits

Index

Bibliographic data