Steve Lacy: Vespers

Multidimensional
to Miles Davis

The world is multidimensional
and that gives us headaches.
We want it to be monochrome
so it can be clear.
We want it to be uniform
so it can be true.
We want it to be limited
so we can grasp it, make it stay.
But its dimensions are endless
the world keeps slipping away

—Blaga Dimitrova

In 1993, jazz saxophonist/composer Steve Lacy recorded the song cycle Vespers with vocals by his wife, Irene Aebi, and the other members of his long-standing sextet, supplemented by two NEC alumni: Ricky Ford '83 on tenor saxophone and Tom Varner '79 on horn.

For his text, Lacy used poems by Blaga Dimitrova that serve as memorial portraits to seven musicians and artists: Miles Davis, Corrado Costa, John Carter, Keith Haring, Charles Mingus, Stan Getz, and Arshile Gorky. At the time of Vespers' appearance, Dimitrova was vice president of Bulgaria as part of a mini-trend of writer-politicians in Eastern Europe.

At the time of the recording's release, the Los Angeles Times reviewer called it "an absorbing work that fully realizes the soprano saxophonist's objectives as a composer. … The carefully crafted compositions are beautifully executed and the quiet assurance of the solos grows with repeated listenings."

In the intervening time, opportunities for repeated listenings have been limited to hitting Replay on the recording. NEC Jazz Studies chair Ken Schaphorst rectifies that situation with this rare live performance, in which Irene Aebi reprises her vocal solos, as a sort of posthumous extension of Lacy's time on the NEC faculty at the end of his life.

David Devoe, Neha Jiwrzjka, Hee Jin Kim, Richard Saunders, Irene Aebi, vocals
Michel Sachs, soprano saxophone
Andrew Halchak, alto saxophone
Christian Contreras, tenor saxophone
Jennifer Hyde, horn
Evan Allen, piano
Henry Fraser, bass
Robin Baytas, drums