STRAIGHT HORN OF/VINYLE 180GR

Description

The "straight horn" mentioned in the title of this superb 1961 album refers to the soprano saxophone, and Lacy is recognized as one of the greatest to have ever played the instrument, ranking alongside John Coltrane and Sidney Bechet. Due to the difficulty of mastering its pitch challenges, very few jazz musicians have focused on it. Lacy is widely regarded as the first "modern" musician to specialize in the instrument. Lacy had a long and prolific career and a fascinating stylistic trajectory. At sixteen, he began playing dixieland with Pee Wee Russell. In the mid-1950s, he played free jazz with Cecil Taylor and performed with his groundbreaking quartet at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. He made a notable appearance on the album Gil Evans, Great Jazz Standards in 1959. Along the way, Lacy became obsessed with the music of Thelonious Monk, working with him several times, including on the album Big Band and Quartet in Concert in 1963, and devoted much of his life's work to interpreting Monk's material.