So why are you doing this?
Doing what?  The record?
No, the band.

I.
Oh.  well, it makes sense to me.
Stealing someone else’s music makes sense?
Excuse me?
Well, aren’t you just stealing Steve Lacy’s music with this project?
Define what you mean by stealing.
Misappropriating.  Taking something that doesn’t rightfully belong to you.
O.K., let’s go one step at a time here.  What is it that I’m ‘taking?’
Well, Lacy’s music.
Huh, that’s funny, I thought we were just trying to play Steve Lacy’s music.
You’re not just playing it, you’re trying to sound like Steve Lacy playing it!
Well, first of all, if we wanted to sound like Lacy, shouldn’t one of us be armed with a soprano saxophone and second of all, are you implying that we’re trying to steal Steve Lacy’s ‘sound?’
I’m not implying, I’m stating.
Well that’s just nuts.  How on earth do you steal a sound?  It’s vibrating air molecules!  Based on that logic you should be able to charge me for the air I’m breathing.
O.K., maybe I’m over-reacting a little bit, but you must admit that Ideal Bread’s arrangements don’t differ significantly from Lacy’s recorded versions?
I assume you’re talking about the statements of the notated material, correct?
Correct.
Well, yes, what we play there is quite similar to pre-recorded sounds that we’ve all heard.  But that’s why they’re called COMPOSITIONS, because they are COMPOSED (i.e., pre-formed) pieces.
But I thought that Jazz was about putting your individual stamp on something.  And besides, whenever I hear other people playing Lacy’s pieces or dedications to him, they do stuff that sounds totally different from him.
Again, first things first.  When the improvising starts, do we sound like Steve Lacy’s band or like Steve Lacy?
No, not even close…
Thank you.  Have you stopped to think that we’ve DECIDED to place our ‘individual stamp’ on the IMPROVISING, not the NOTATED material?
Well, when other people…
O.K.  When John Coltrane plays “My Favorite Things” does he play the melody?
What…?
Does he explicitly state the melody?
Yes…
Is what he’s doing ‘playing jazz?’
Well, yeah, but the ‘jazz’ begins when he starts improvising…
I think you’re agreeing with what I just said.
But isn’t that treating the legacy of the 60’s in a really reactionary way?  All you’re doing is taking a very old formal model and applying it to material that was never meant to be in that mold.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.  #1 – is the legacy of the 60’s merely to be exhibited in it most surface manifestations (i.e. just sound like someone from the 60’s)? #2 – In case you hadn’t noticed, I’M NOT FROM THE 60’S.  I have to find my own solutions to the puzzles left in front of me #3 – Who are you to decide how Steve Lacy’s material is ‘supposed’ to be played?  Last I checked, your name was not ‘Steve Lacy.’
Well, you don’t have to get so nasty.  And anyway, when other people play…
Look, once again, I’m going to find MY solutions to these questions, not use other peoples.  And I’d be careful about generalizing.  More people than you think play Lacy’s music in a very ‘straight’ manner.

II.
Steve’s music ‘fit’ me well.
Oh, you mean like the way Thelonious Monk’s music fit him?
I suppose, but I’m not Steve Lacy, so I don’t know.  But it’s interesting you bring up that point.  In the back of my head I was thinking that it would be good to try and do for Steve Lacy what Steve Lacy did for Thelonious Monk.
Are you referring to the ‘School Days’ band he had with Roswell Rudd?
Yeah, and Dennis Charles.
But didn’t he do that band exclusively for several years?
Yeah, something like 3 years.  But work’s hard enough to come by and rent’s higher, and you know what?  You can call me a dilettante, but I have more than one musical interest.  I work best when indulging several of them simultaneously.
So the music ‘fits’ you, does that mean it lays easily on the baritone saxophone?
Actually no.  It’s unbelievably awkward on this instrument.  But somehow, it just made sense.  I could tell that playing this music would lead me to places on the horn that I wanted to get to.
And what about the rest of they guys?
You mean Kirk, Reuben and Tomas?
Yes.
Well they were the right men for this work.  They are extremely talented, but more than that, they were committed to this music.
How so?
Well, Kirk, Reuben and I played together for 6 moths before there was any sign of a gig.  And Tomas was with us for two months of that as well.  They never asked me or pushed me to get a gig or exposure.  We just worked at the music every week for a decent amount of time trying to get it right and figure out what it’s about.
Well, what is it about?
I think you can hear the answer to that in our playing.
O.K., fine, but I’m asking you to tell me using words.
Well if I could express it in words, then I would have done that.  These thoughts were best expressed in a musical format.  Besides, I never said we resolved these questions…

III.

to learn
to forget
to have fun
to discipline myself
to say thank you
to be a contrarian
to open up
to meditate
to investigate
to decide
to give myself something to do
to give myself too much to do
to meet new people
to wander off alone
to become bored
to become inspired
to try something new
to play something old
to pick a fight
to make friends.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008.