the weather is getting colder again (at least here), and it's time for this man who has stopped by here a few times (not enough) to visit us again with his soprano saxophone.
the experience of listening to Steve Lacy for me (can not help but wax poetic here) is not unlike (forgive the perhaps vulgar metaphor, i'm a bit tipsy) the best scotch that money can buy, which goes down so easy and smooth beyond words can describe, tastes like heaven itself, and leaves the finest aroma in its passing -- an exquisite subtlety which transcends the fleeting moments of its duration, and with each phrase, effortlessly speaks volumes.
first, a re-up of the duos recording
Five Facings.
now 2 solo recordings:
after cutting his teeth playing bop with the best in the 50s and 60s, and having developed a mature solo style during countless loft concerts in NYC in the 70s free jazz scene, by this time (1991) the decades of exploration, reflection and refinement had distilled to a simply transcendent sound... what REMAINS is a style beyond mere mastery, past simple virtuosity... constructed of actual intuition, real empathy, and pure wonderment.
from the liner notes:
"The Tao cycle (Existence, The Way, Bone, Name, The Breath, Life On Its Way), is a work that I have been pursuing for more than 20 years. Based on a 2000 year old chinese text, Tao Teh Ching by Lao-Tzu, translated into clear english by Witter Bynner in the 40's, I set 6 of the pieces to music in the late 60's, and have been busy reworking them, since. In the 70's we elaborated this music further, and performed it in many different settings, recording it several times, as a solo, or as a group piece, with and without the words. Here then is my current view of this work (sti ll in progress), in a solo context.
Pearl Street is another old story. Sketches, scenes, souvenirs of New York late 50's, it was written in '72 and dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg.
Remains, composed '91 as a "commande d'état" from the french ministry of culture, for an original music for the dancer, Pierre Droulers. The starting point was the drawing by James Ensor, "My portrait in 1960", which was done in 1880! The music explores the nature of decay by means of iteration, reiteration, deterioration, disintegration, obliteration, so as to make a proper dance music, for a skeleton in a tomb!
Pierre and I have performed this piece, quite a few times, in France, Italy and Belgium (the choreography is amazing), the sax part is quite difficult to play and contains much fixed material, as well as three sections, which are improvised, within very tight confines. Remains is dedicated to the late italian sculptor, Giacomo Manzu, who created the famous "Death's Doors" on St Peter's cathedral in Rome.
Afterglow is a kansas city style blues in Bb, inspired by the great pianist and band leader, Jay McShann and is one of a series of pieces written in the early 80's, called "Luminaires".
Epistrophy is Thelonious Monk's deathless classic. When I worked with him for 16 weeks (Jazz Gallery, New York) in 1960, we played every night 4 sets, sometimes doubling 3 shows in the day at the Apollo Theatre. Epistrophy ended every set as it was Monk's theme, so we played it hundreds of times and Thelonious always treated it (and every piece) as 'brand new', never failing in his solo to come up with something l'd never heard him play before. What a thrill!
Improvisation (play) is, of course, a vital part of all the living arts. Zao-wou-ki, who also lives in Paris is one of the greatest living masters of improvisation in the world of painting and drawing."
Axieme includes a live version of the Tao suite recorded almost 20 years before the one above - Remains (1975).
"This relatively early solo effort (1975) by Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone succeeds in ways that some of his later work does not. The four tracks are all part of Axieme, which explores sound, timbre, and rhythm in Lacy's inimitable style. Some of the licks that are so identified with the saxophonist are here (including snippets of Monk), but what makes this so appealing is the freedom expressed. The first "Part" starts with a theme, and repeats it over and over again with minor changes until it becomes something new. Elsewhere, Lacy displays some of his more radical work, with extended technique predominant. As with all of his solo improvisations, the recording is demanding of the listener; but there is enough variety to easily hold the listener's attention for the entire length of the CD. Between Lacy's over-blowing, distortions, and explosions (relatively speaking, as Lacy is not by nature a screecher), and his exquisite use of sound, this is a rewarding recording." ~ Steve Loewy, All Music Guide
from Liner Notes: Oct. 20 77
"Thanks for the cassette.
I agree with you that the music is
very good. (I taped it myself at the concert).
Steve Lacy"
and now a couple of group outings:
this from 2002 and features Steve Lacy soprano saxophone, voice (3), Anthony Cox on double bass, and Daniel Humair on drums.
i'm running out of time and could not find a review in english so here is a short one:
Awesome.
and finally something perhaps less adventurous, but more sweet and relaxed, his duo with Mal Waldron from 1986, on which they play a bunch of
classics by Ellington and Strayhorn.
Bonaventure is a curator/artist from Cameroon, and always puts on really fun art exhibitions with good after parties.
Shackleton doing a more techno-y set than last i heard him, a frantic jump up rave kinda style, before closing his set with some classics like Blood On My Hands. wikkid threads as well. 
played all the new South Asian and Arabic dubstep. glad i stayed the course and did what i set out to do: the more challenging and heavy material with no compromises and no apology. no one dropped to their knees and burst into tears as i had hoped, but a few people did head for the door, so it was basically a good show. 
30 minutes later Cooly G on point as usual. not sure how many in the bar was hip to the now sound... 
on sunday the West African legends Orchestre Poly Rhythmo de Cotonou was superb. felt kind of bad for them as the park behind the "rock'n'roll highschool" (where Sun Ra's Archestra played last year) was still pretty empty at 2 PM, and only like 4 people including myself was dancing. I'm sure these guys burn the house down when they play at home - the grooves were HOT and the melodies sweet as can be - but the largely Dutch audience just sat and stared. 
later an all African set from me. started with some recent Frances Bebey remixes and Haitian VouDou Techno rounded off by SA House, and gradually slowed down from 120+ to around 100 BPM with some Ngoma favorites; ending with a mashup of Rhythm and Sound with Madagascar tribal singing. 
and of course these guys sounded fucking great. no mistaking it this time, new material in the classic style: some roots, some ragga riddims. and Paul's voice is as amazing as ever. deep and varied with so much soul... and delivered many tunes in a rough and tough style not heard on the records: like some kind of introspective badman in deep spiritual reflection. 
had to take the photo op as it presented itself. (Marcus if you have a problem with these pictures let me know and i will take them down)
and a great surprise on Sunday night: last party of the festival and everyone was gathered in a crowed bar, where the man known as Rummelsnuff did a set of original, REAL German Elektro-Punk. NOT like the annoying shit trendy stupidsters in their day-glo nu-rave outfits spew all over the world these days, which has given the genre a terrible name -- this was like DAF, like Einsturzende, like old Laibach, like the best of the NDW and early industrial punk. and such a friendly and humorous dood too, full of good vibes! 
and a little groceries from the Grass Company on the way to train station monday morning - legal weed is good weed :)
Salon De Baile, the same venue where we played during Fusion 2 years ago, was packed for the entire night. since this was a theater and performance festival, the crowd was diverse and also ready to dance after watching so many shows sitting down.
should have taken more photos and video but there was no time - only went out from behind the booth, which was in a corner and not on stage like last time, once during a long track...
started with a few Ngoma favorites to warm up the crowd, and went straight for the African Techno and UK-Funky. besides a bunch of new tunes never played out before, i tested some new mashups and remixes with Haitian voudou drums and Yoruba percussion (worked exceptionally well). also added some Detroit Techno and House to the set - sort of going back to my dj roots a little bit. when i dropped Cooly G's monster "Narst" after a soulful sequence of Black Coffee and Moodyman everyone went NUTS. and another major uproar when some Underground Resistance hit after the Funky session -- that cold, dark and brutal Detroit sound is so good after a warm and polyrhythmic sequence. towards the end even played some dubstep and bassline before another dj took over at 6AM. felt good to do a proper 5 hour set during peak time on great sound with no restrictions... it should and will happen with more frequency.
on this historic date i will be making booties large and small synchronously vibrate in a wide variety of aesthetically pleasing and freaky manners from 1:30 - 5AM as part of AT.TENSION 3 festival of dance, performing arts, and theater.
hot off the heels of the Namibian Kwaito here's some more traditional Namibian sounds - from the most anthropologically studied pre-modern and pre-tribal people of all time: the Dobe Ju/'hoansi. i wrote a bit about their fascinating and indeed in many fundamental ways far superior lifestyle (relative to ours) here (will re-up the lecture very soon).
about the same latitude to the east, here is another great recording from Madagascar. 
and finally, some more of that exquisite Kora music, from Gambia this time (instead of Mali).
me and Congo doing a chilled warm up set.
the crowd is made up of random tourists who happened to be at the Brandenburg Gate that afternoon and people who came to see the show.
Gazza and EES break into their collaborative hit "International"
boom boom boom bass music from former German colony Namibia rocks the Brandenburg Gate. these guys really bring the heat in a big way. the dancers / back up singers were awesome. Gazza is so calm, humble and soft spoken in person, but becomes a raging storm on stage.
too bad there are no photos from the YAAM show, which was fire as well. and afterwards, gazza and his dancers were just dancing and goofing around like regular clowns: certainly not like American rappers! no attitude, very friendly, open and warm people. bigup Swetlana from the Namibia Society for making all this happen!
neglected and "seminal" proto synth-industrial new-wave pop-noir, or whatever people are calling it these days. on early Mute records alongside other then unknown strange electronic pop bands like The Normal and Depeche Mode; released 1980. 
for all the silly theatricality and their pretentious UK magick thing, these guys of course produced some good and memorable music. this one is from 1999.
second volume from 2000.
