Recorded at Nola Penthouse Studios, NYC, November 19, 1960.
The only thing "straight" about Steve Lacy's horn is its shape -- as the soprano sax here is used in some extremely inventive and modern ways, especially for the date of the session! We don't think we're going out on a limb to say Lacy is one of the foremost melodic improvisors of his time, and easily one of the most talented soprano players too -- and his early date as a leader shows both his forward looking involvement with the avant garde (he'd played with Cecil Taylor just before this date and does a couple of his compositions here) and a career-long fascination with Thelonious Monk.. Although the group here is piano-less there's a definite Monk-like edge to many of the numbers, carried off especially by the sharp turns in Lacy's horn.
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