An incredible package – one that brings together two very important albums from reedman Steve Lacy – plus unreleased material from the same time too! First up is the record Disposability – presented here with the first-ever correction to the cymbal sound – a key session in the development of Steve Lacy – and a great one too! The album was one of Lacy's first European recordings – caught in the studio in Rome in 1965, with a very free-styled trio that includes Alberto Romano on drums and Kent Carter on bass. Lacy's working here at a level that takes off from his earlier Thelonious Monk-influenced experiments on soprano sax – in a style that's still relatively angular and quite modern, but which also has some looser, freer approaches to the music – spinning out in styles that really point the way towards his music of the 70s. Tracks are relatively short, keeping things somewhat restrained – and titles include versions of Monk's "Pannonica", "Shuffle Boil", and "Comin On The Hudson" – plus "Generous 1", "There We Were", "M's Transport", and "Tune 2". Sortie is quite a rare Italian album from Steve Lacy – featuring a quartet with Enrico Rava on trumpet, Kent Carter on bass, and Aldo Romano on drums – the same group on Lacy's Disposability album, but with the excellent addition of trumpet – which gives the music an even more powerful sound! The mixture of Lacy's soprano and Rava's trumpet is wonderful – and Carter and Romano are on fire in terms of their rhythms – post-Monk, post-Ornette, but also maybe still with more structure than some of the free jazz generation to come – a great balance that really draws some soulful currents from Lacy's horn. Titles include "Black Elk", "Helmy", "Fork New York", "Living T Blues", and "Sortie". Next are 13 tracks used as cues in the film Free Fall – recorded in New York in 1967 with Lacy, Rava, and Carter – plus the addition of Karl Berger and Paul Motian. The music is quite interesting – less totally free, then thoughtfully arranged for images on the screen – and the sounds are another amazing chapter in these formative years of Lacy. Last up are three tracks recorded in Paris in 1972 – never-issued music from a famous Lacy quintet that features Steve Potts on alto, Kent Carter on bass, Noel McGhie on drums, and Irene Aebi on cello. The work is tremendous – right at the start of that huge wave of Lacy creativity in Paris for the 70s – and the group plays "The Rush" and "The Thing", the latter in two parts. (Dustygroove)
"Four sessions of music involving different degrees of free improvisation - all featuring Steve Lacy and Kent Carter. Disposability, the 1965 trio record with Aldo Romano which features versions of jazz standards and originals as well as some free improvisation. Originally issued in 1966 as Vik 200, this is the first reissue without distorted cymbal 'tap dancer' noise. (2) Sortie, the 1966 quartet record with Enrico Rava added, based on free improvisation. Originally issued in 1966 as Gta 1002, this is the first complete reissue, and the first CD reissue with correct track titles. (3) The previously unissued 1967 'Free Fall' Film Cues performed by a quintet with Rava, Karl Berger, & Paul Motian. Improvisation moulded to fit with mainly short visual film sequences. (4) Finally, two previously unissued 1972 quintet pieces with Steve Potts (alto saxophone), Irene Aebi (cello) and Noel Mcghie (drums). The best recorded version of the Lacy original The Rush, and a partially controlled improvisation called The Thing. 124 minutes."-Emanem