NEC Honors Steve Lacy With Concert

Late soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy taught only at one school during his life, the New England Conservatory of Music. So, it is fitting that this school should be the one to host a memorial concert for Lacy, who died June 4. The performance will be held October 12 at the conservatory’s Jordan Hall and is free and open to the public.

The performance will include Lacy works like “Flake,” “Tina’s Tune,” “If Life Were Easy,” “Life on Its Way,” “Art,” “Resurrection,” and “Le Jardin.” The concert will also include works by onetime Lacy employer Thelonious Monk, namely “‘Round Midnight” and “Misterioso,” in an arrangement by Jazz Department Chairman Ken Schaphorst. To commemorate Lacy’s death, three tribute pieces will also be performed: Bob Moses’ “Spacey for Lacy,” Dan Blake’s “Confines,” and Jorrit Dijkstra’s “Lace.”

Musicians for the event include NEC faculty, students and alumni and will also feature a collaboration between Lacy’s widow and frequent collaborator, vocalist Irene Aebi, and Lacy’s friend and fellow saxophonist David Liebman.

The New England Conservatory is one of the oldest independent schools of music in the U.S. The NEC presents more than 600 free performances a year in its 100-year-old restored concert hall, Jordan Hall.

For more information, call the NEC Concert Line at (617) 585-1122 or visit www.newenglandconservatory.edu/calendar.

Originally Published September 22, 2004