Some Jazz Records: (Early) Steve Lacy Clippings
Comments on recordings from musicians and other actors of the jazz scene. Random and not-so-random listening cues from the archives.
Writing about jazz, it is very rare to have research cut out for you, especially in a comprehensive manner. Thanks to the work of writer Jason Weiss, Steve Lacy is one of the few musicians whose interviews have been carefully compiled in book form. The articles referenced below, along with many others, can be found in Weiss’s excellent Steve Lacy: Conversations, published by Duke University Press in 2006.
New Orleans Feetwarmers, Shag/I Found a New Baby, Victor 24150, ca. 1932, 10" 78 rpm; New Orleans Feetwarmers, Sweetie Dear/Maple Rag, Victor 23360, ca. 1932, 10" 78 rpm; and New Orleans Feetwarmers, Lay Your Racket/I Want You Tonight, Victor 23358, ca. 1932, 10" 78 rpm.
In 1961, soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy wrote an article on the history of his instrument in jazz for Metronome. Sidney Bechet was one of the prominent topics. "In 1932 Bechet had organized a violent little band with Tommy Ladnier on trumpet," Lacy wrote. "They made half a dozen sides for Victor, which are fiery examples of his remarkable drive. To me these sides remain among the most exciting jazz records ever made: 'Shag,' 'Maple Leaf Rag,' 'I Found a New Baby,' etc." The three other sides cut during this September 1932 session were "Sweetie Dear," "Lay Your Racket," and "I Want You Tonight." Lacy also mentioned subsequent Bechet recordings. "In the early '40s he recorded, again for Victor, an excellent series of sides with Kenny Clarke, Sidney de Paris, Charlie Shavers, Teddy Bunn, Sid Catlett, and others."
Duke Ellington, The Ellington Special, Columbia C 127, 1947, 4 10" 78 rpm.
"Johnny Hodges was an early student of Bechet and is a brilliant alto player. He was also, to my mind, the finest soprano saxophonist until the mid-'40s, when he gave it up for reasons of his own," Steve Lacy wrote in his 1961 Metronome article on the soprano in jazz. "Most of Hodges’s recordings are unavailable on LP, but on the original 78s there are numerous examples of his warm, suave, lyrical improvisations. Outstanding among these are 'Indigo Echoes' and 'Tough Truckin',' using for that, or any other time, the very unusual instrumentation of cornet, soprano, baritone, piano, and two basses." Those two 1935 cuts were first released as parts of a 1947 Columbia collection of unissued Ellington masters. Other "good discs" featuring Hodges on soprano listed by Lacy were "Blue Reverie" with Cootie Williams and His Rug Cutters, "Blue Goose" and "Harmony in Harlem" with the Ellington Orchestra, and "Tired Socks" and "That’s the Blues, Old Man" as leader. "Hodges’s great coloristic flexibility and marvelous control, combined with his delicate ear, enabled him to handle the soprano in the same relaxed manner as his own alto, without having to resort to Bechet’s vibrato," Lacy added.
Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2, Blue Note BLP 1511, 1956, LP.
Steve Lacy’s first interview appeared in Jazz Review's September 1959 issue. Among other topics, the saxophonist discussed his expanding interest in Thelonious Monk’s compositions. "When I heard Monk’s record of 'Skippy,' I was determined to learn it if it took me a year. It took me a week to learn and six months to be able to play it. I had such a ball learning it that I started to look into his other tunes. I had previously recorded 'Work.'" Lacy had included this composition on his 1957 debut for Prestige, Soprano Sax, and he recorded "Skippy" for his first all-Monk album, next year’s Reflections. Monk’s version of "Skippy," first released on 78 in the early 1950s, was by this time available on a volume of Blue Note’s Genius of Modern Music. "Each song of Monk’s that I learned left me with something invaluable and permanent," Lacy wrote. "And the more I learned, the more I began to get with his system. Soon I realized I had enough material for ten albums."
New writing elsewhere: "Wire Playlist: Ellen Christi’s Free Jazz Vocals," The Wire, February 2025. Along with Didier Levallet, I’ve also answered It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine's questions about the Byard Lancaster box set recently released by Souffle Continu.
Can you give us an Adress were to buy the Byard Lancaster Box?