1989 Soul Note Label
Brilliant “free jazz” soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy has a birthday today. Born in 1934, he passed in 2004. Lacy, one of the few truly great jazz soprano players—in the company of Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane—was also one of the greatest Thelonious Monk interpreters in modern jazz. Checkout Lacy’s playing in the following video: he interprets Monk’s song “Straight, No Chaser” with his trio, performing in Paris at the Sunset, a Parisian jazz café. Jean Jacques Avenel’s solo on bass (he is self-taught) is amazing. Lacy’s kind of jazz is not for everyone, but the French consider him “le poète du saxophone.”
Call and Response 