Library Person
Steve Lacy
American soprano saxophonist who brought the instrument back into modern jazz, and a performer with Musica Elettronica Viva.
Steve Lacy (1934–2004) was the first avant-garde jazz musician to specialize in the soprano saxophone, single-handedly returning the instrument to modern music after playing with Cecil Taylor, Gil Evans, and Thelonious Monk. Settling for a period in Rome after 1965, he began performing with Musica Elettronica Viva’s Alvin Curran and Frederic Rzewski in the group’s late-1960s improvisations.