Lacy's ,Greatest Japanese lp (IMO, not that i've heard them all), and a very strong Contender for Best Lacy record period !
this was without a doubt one of his very best bands, the searing ecstatic almost unbearable intensity of most of this set ,is unusual and not often found in Lacys ouevre
Even on 'Free'classics like forrest and the zoo,and Roba, lacy is often restrained ,dry analytical , and sounding slightly detached.
Here we have some of his most violently expressionistic gestural playing on record, all while maintaining the spacious and uncluttered character of this sequence of Japanese records...
This definitive version of Deadline , is incredibly haunting ,Ikeda, Yoshizawa and Midorikawa hazily shimmering beneath some opiated distant glimpse of a slowly submerging dissapearing floating world ..
Unique and very beautiful....
S
"This album has a very dark mood, especially with the arco basses and the dissonant piano. The percussion too adds to the mood.
Every one plays well and interprets Lacy's composistions in a way that works exclusively with the selected sideman. If the album was recorded with his regular group at the time (Abei, Potts, Few, Carter, Johnson) it would have been completely different."
'prospectus', (from the comments to our initial mp3 post)
Steve Lacy Sextet-THE WIRE,
1/ The Twain (Lacy) 6:31
2/ Esteem (Lacy) 8:40
3/ The Owl (Lacy) 4:17
4/ The Wire (Lacy) 4:58
5/ Cloudy (Lacy) 6:12
6/ Dead Line (Lacy) 8:06
Recorded at Nippon Columbia's 1st Studio, Tokyo, June 18, 1975
Steve Lacy: soprano saxophone
Masahiko Satoh: piano
Masahiko Togashi: percussion
Keiki Midorikawa: cello, bass
Yoshio Ikeda: bass
Motoharu Yoshizawa: bass
1977 - Denon Jazz (Japan), YX 7553 (LP)
Note: (3) is a duo with Steve Lacy and Masahiko Togashi.
