Flim-flam

This live 1986 duet date between both Steves in the Steve Lacy sextet on soprano saxophones is, for intent purposes, a swinging affair. While there are edges and some outrageous improvisation, Steve Potts (right channel) and Steve Lacy (left channel) keep this firmly in the Monk-ian jazz vein. The huge difference in each man's tone makes the pair instantly distinguishable. Lacy has the rounded, slightly flattened lyrical tone, and Potts plays his soprano like Jackie McLean plays the alto: raw, edgy, knotty lines with lots of twists and turns while Lacy creates musical circles in his improvisations. The sense of rhythm, timing, meter, and timbre are all woven into these Lacy compositions where a riff is trotted out, manipulated through the jazz tradition and then played in variations by one man as the other solos. It works, virtually all the time. It gets painterly and hypnotic, like Jackson Pollock on the title cut and on "Three Points," -- and yes, that's a good thing -- the swirling horns come around and through each other in a rhythmic sense that harmony and melody are created in this manner. Given that these men played together for such a long time, that there is such instantaneous call and response should not be a surprise. However, there is also something to be said for restraint, and the pair practice that here as well. This is a blowing date to be sure, with lots of interesting and remarkable improvisation, but both men are interested primarily in using their instruments to carry "song," which they did to the delight of the Swiss audience who heard them, and anyone who encounters this recording. ~ Thom Jurek|