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Steve Lacy Quotes
Steve Lacy Quotes
Steve Lacy
American
Musician
Born:
Jul 23
,
1934
Died:
Jun 4
,
2004
Jazz
Just
Monk
Music
People
You
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The saxophone is a very interesting machine, but I'm more interested in music.
Steve Lacy
Music
Saxophone
Machine
More
Very
Interested
Interesting
When I first started playing music in 1955, there was just a small body of people that knew it. It was a very esoteric type of thing.
Steve Lacy
Music
People
First
Type
Small
Knew
Very
Esoteric
Just
Body
Thing
Started
Playing
When I found the music of Monk I finally found music that fit that horn. Every one of his tunes fit it perfectly.
Steve Lacy
Music
Every
Finally
Horn
Perfectly
His
Fit
Tunes
Found
Monk
When I heard Monk in person in 1955, he was playing with a quartet in a small club. The place was full of musicians, but there was no public at all.
Steve Lacy
Musicians
Club
Small
He
Quartet
Heard
Person
Place
Public
Full
Monk
Playing
Whoever has an original thing to say, it is sort of a threat to the status quo.
Steve Lacy
Say
Status
Status Quo
Threat
Sort
Quo
Whoever
Original
Original Thing
Thing
Bamboo is not a weed, it's a flowering plant. Bamboo is a magnificent plant.
Steve Lacy
Plant
Weed
Magnificent
Bamboo
Flowering
To me, there is spirit in a reed. It's a living thing, a weed, really, and it does contain spirit of a sort. It's really an ancient vibration.
Steve Lacy
Me
Weed
Living
Ancient
Spirit
Contain
Sort
Does
Reed
Vibration
Really
Thing
Living Thing
I've been working on the soprano saxophone for 40 years, and the possibilities are astounding. It's up to you, the only limit is the imagination.
Steve Lacy
You
Imagination
Saxophone
Astounding
Possibilities
Only
Soprano
Limit
Been
Years
Up
Working
If you listen to Louis Armstrong from 1929, you will never hear anything better than that really, and you will never hear anything more free than that.
Steve Lacy
You
Better
Will
Free
More
Never
Armstrong
Hear
Louis
Louis Armstrong
Than
Listen
Anything
Really
Circumstances can be very important. Find the right people to work with.
Steve Lacy
Work
People
Important
Right People
Circumstances
Find
Very
Right
I started in New Orleans music and played all through the history of jazz.
Steve Lacy
Music
History
Jazz
Through
New
New Orleans
The History Of
Orleans
Played
Started
I was spoiled by Monk's music because it was so good, so complete.
Steve Lacy
Music
Good
Complete
Spoiled
Because
Monk
I've always been extremely lucky in playing with great people who knew much more than I did. That's how I got from there to here.
Steve Lacy
Great
People
Extremely
More
Great People
Knew
Always
Got
How
Been
Than
Did
Much
Who
Lucky
Here
Playing
I've performed solo for 20 years now, but I don't do much of it, because if you only play alone, you go crazy and out of tune and play foolish music.
Steve Lacy
Music
Alone
Crazy
You
Out
Solo
Only
Foolish
Performed
Because
Go
Years
Tune
Much
Now
Play
If you're trying to invent something new, you're going to reach a lot of discouraging points, and most people give up.
Steve Lacy
You
People
Invent
Give
Something
Something New
Points
New
Reach
Most
Discouraging
Lot
Up
Trying
Going
It starts with a single sound. If there's something in that sound, then it's worth continuing.
Steve Lacy
Worth
Single
Starts
Something
Sound
Continuing
Then
It's very important to go through periods where you sound just rotten and you know it, and you have to persevere or give up.
Steve Lacy
You
Important
Give
Through
Know
Periods
Sound
Go
Up
Persevere
Very
Just
Where
Rotten
Kenny G, I have to be grateful to him for proving that the instrument can be played all different kinds of ways.
Steve Lacy
Grateful
Be Grateful
Different Kinds
Ways
Kinds
Instrument
Him
Proving
Different
Played
Kenny
Register is very important. Music sounds best in a certain register.
Steve Lacy
Music
Best
Important
Sounds
Very
Register
Certain
Some people really want to play Mozart and be just performers. I was more interested in invention.
Steve Lacy
People
Some People
Invention
Some
More
Performers
Just
Want
Interested
Mozart
Really
Play
The more original something is, the more of a threat it seems until the people catch up with it. That happened with Thelonious Monk. It happened with anybody who is really original.
Steve Lacy
People
Threat
Seems
Something
More
Catch
Until
Up
Anybody
Happened
Really
Who
Original
Monk
There is an awful lot of what I call recreational jazz going on, where people go out and learn a particular language or style and become real sharks on somebody else's language.
Steve Lacy
People
Sharks
Language
Somebody
Style
Become
Jazz
Else
Out
Recreational
Particular
Call
Learn
Real
Go
Lot
Going
Where
Awful
Awful Lot
They call me before they go into production, when they have a prototype, and they call legitimate saxophonists, too. As opposed to the other kind.
Steve Lacy
Me
Before
Too
Other
Kind
Call
Prototype
Opposed
Go
Legitimate
Production
We played for peanuts. But we did what we wanted to do, we heard what we wanted to hear, we performed what we wanted to perform, we learned what we wanted to learn.
Steve Lacy
Perform
Performed
Learn
Learned
Hear
Heard
Did
Wanted
Peanuts
Played
What I learned with Cecil Taylor was strategy and survival and how to resist temptations and resist getting discouraged.
Steve Lacy
Survival
Discouraged
Strategy
Temptations
Learned
How
Cecil
Getting
Taylor
Resist
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