Emotion, music fill Lacy tribute
Steve Lacy taught for just two years at New England Conservatory before his death from cancer this past June, but he left a lot of friends and admirers there. Many of them -- an assortment of current and recent NEC students and their professors, plus special guest David Liebman -- gave the late soprano saxophone genius a bittersweet sendoff Tuesday night at a well-attended free tribute at Jordan Hall.
The first half of the 2 1/2-hour-long program was primarily devoted to student ensembles performing Lacy compositions, much of it incorporating text by authors such as Herman Melville and Robert Creeley. These pieces, like much of Lacy's later work, had a painterly, experimental feel to them, and the students approached them with high levels of competence and seriousness. Three of them -- Jeremy Udden, Daniel Blake, and Adam Roberts -- dared to perform on Lacy's instrument, soprano sax, and handled themselves admirably. (Blake boldly played the instrument solo on an intriguing composition of his own, "Confines.")
Other pre-intermission highlights included Josh Sinton's solo baritone sax treatment of Lacy's "Resurrection"; a fiery, sometimes dissonant alto sax duet by Jorrit Dijkstra and Matana Roberts on Dijkstra's intricate "Lace"; Monika Heidemann's chant-like rendering of Brion Gysin's lyrics on "Somebody Special"; and Irene Aebi, Lacy's widow, joining the students as vocalist on "Mind's Heart."
After intermission, the professors took the stage, beginning with a septet -- Ken Schaphorst, trumpet; Liebman, soprano sax; Allan Chase, alto sax; George Garzone, tenor sax; Danilo Perez, piano; Rick McLaughlin, bass; and Bob Moses, drums -- on the drummer's composition "Spacey for Lacy." Perez, a frequent Lacy collaborator, went next, with a lovely solo piano piece. And then came the most riveting performance of the night: Ran Blake's interpretation of Thelonious Monk's " 'Round About Midnight."
The stage lights were dimmed so that Blake sat in darkness, alone at the piano, and improvised his way through the best-known composition of Lacy's touchstone composer, fitting it with dark, dirge-like chords in places and yet letting light trickle in by the end. The effect, coupled with Blake's consummate mastery of the piece, was highly moving and earned him sustained applause.
Liebman followed with a pyrotechnic display of soprano saxophone technique on Lacy's "Prospectus," and then Aebi returned with pianist Daniel Tepfer to sing her late husband's "Le Jardin," which earned a standing ovation.
The set concluded with more Monk: "Misterioso" as arranged by Schaphorst for a soprano-sax choir of Liebman, Garzone, and Chase, with Perez following the horn players' series of highly charged, alternating solos with a fine one of his own.
Hearing all those sopranos tackling Monk, and the honoree's compositions that preceded them throughout the night, it was hard not to smile and think that Lacy lives.
Steve Lacy tribute
At: Jordan Hall,New England Conservatory, Tuesday night
