Steve Lacy - Live at Unity Temple (1998)

"One would think that listening to a soprano sax in a solo context might end up being monotonous, but in the hands of a master, you could rest assured that there would be variety in the tunes and in the nuance, inflection, and ambience within each tune. Also, this type of performance allowed you to ruminate on each note and its placement; in other words, you could really hear what was going on. Many times during a band concert, there are various reasons that you cannot hear exactly what the soloist is playing, making you strain to take in all that should be aurally obvious.

But this concert turned into an opportunity for meditation, something sorely missed in this high-decibel world. It was meditation on some glorious music and, as it turned out, words. Beginning with “Evidence,” Lacy segued into “Ask Me Now,” playing with a slightly Nino-Rota-like phrasing. After a few unidentified compositions, he began to recite a poem on the nature of the music, leading to what I believe was a Rota tune from Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. After a brief intermission, Lacy went over to the piano, raised the lid, and began to experiment with overtones from the strings as he blew the horn straight into the piano. Far from being discordant nonsense, his music achieved some remarkable harmonics. He finished the set with some more original music and then mingled with the crowd as they filed out. The concert demonstrated that you can indeed experience fully such creative music at Unity Temple". Rashaan Clark Morris, Jazz Institute of Chicago Reviews

1. Monk Medley
- Shuffle Boil
- Thelonious
- Evidence
- Pannonica
- Misterioso
- Skippy
2. The Crust
3. Art
4. Revenue
5. Absence
6. Deadline

"You have to sound sad first of all, then maybe later you can sound good". Steve Lacy

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