STEVE LACY
Sideways
Roaratorio Roar
01 (LP)

On the surface, the appeal of this vinyl-only release of two separate archival Lacy performances seems a bit calculated for the collectible LP crowd. Sideways comprises two never-released recordings from 1968 (tracks 1 & 2) and 1974 (track 3). Each LP in the limited-edition run of 399 copies comes with a unique cover, hand-painted and signed by Judith Lindbloom. Being a bit of an LP-collector type, myself, I went for it hook, line, and sinker.

The good news is that Sideways succeeds as more than an audio curio. Lacy is in great form, and mixes surprisingly lyrical playing with an array of expressionistic chirps squeals and whines. Interestingly, these recordings also feature primitive synthesizers played by Lacy’s colleague in Musica Elettronica Viva, Richard Tietelbaum and Michel Waisvisz. Along with Paul Bley and Annette Peacock, Teitelbaum was a pioneer of improvised electronic music in the late 1960s. Waisvisz was one of the first to design and build his own electronic sound generation devices (e.g., the crackle box) for use in improvised settings. As a historical document alone, Sideways is of great importance to those interested in the adaptation of electronic instruments into spontaneously improvised musical environments. By way of comparison, Sideways is a much more a wild and wooly blowout type of affair than, say, Threads (Horo HZ 05), Lacy’s long-deleted 1977 LP with pianist Frederic Rzewski and trumpeter / synthesist Alvin Curran.

Side one of this vinyl-only issue contains two takes of "The Way" by the trio of Lacy, vocalist Irene Aebi, and Teitelbaum, each followed by an extended improvisation sans Aebi. Lacy’s notes inform us that the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the tune had not yet emerged at the time of this recording (1968). Thus the free, floating feel of the piece comes as no surprise. Aebi’s vocals seem less brittle and mannered than many of her later performances. Teitelbaum shows a profound mastery of timbral and textural nuances on what was then a very cumbersome and unpredictable instrument.

Lacy is accompanied by percussionist Han Bennink, and Waisvisz, on the flipside for a continuous performance of three Lacy pieces presented at the Free Music Workshop (Berlin) in 1974. Bennink’s rumbustious drumming imparts an overtly free jazz feel to much of this session, though he provides some more subtle shadings during the first five minutes or so. Then, Bennink picks up a saxophone and goes toe-to-toe with Lacy and Waisvisz for some completely over-the-top squealing and wailing. Back behind the drums, Bennink then pushes the music into more jazz-like territory, to which Lacy responds with some truly beautiful playing. Perhaps because of Bennink’s immense presence, or perhaps because the crackle box provides a rather limited sound palette, Waisvisz seems a bit lost at times. However, there was more than enough energy and creativity on display here to sustain my interest during repeated listenings.

Sideways is a fascinating document for many reasons, and well worth checking out. Copies may (or may not) be available directly from Roaratorio: P. O. Box 300574, Minneapolis, MN, 55403, USA (e-mail: Anatole40@aol.com, website: http://hometown.aol.com/anatole40).

Dave Wayne

Track Listing: 1. a – The Way, b – Improvisation; 2. a – The Way, b – Improvisation; 3. The Way / Pearl Street / The Duck

Personnel: Steve Lacy, soprano saxophone (all tracks); Irene Aebi, voice (1a, 2a); Richard Teitelbaum, Moog synthesizer (1, 2); Michel Waisvisz, crackle box (3); Han Bennink, drums, other instruments (3)