Steve Lacy [Jazz] : NPR

Carly Rae Jepsen. Her song "Too Much," from her fourth full-length, Dedicated, is on our list of the best tracks out in May. Markus & Koala/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Markus & Koala/Courtesy of the artist

Best Music Of 2019

NPR Music's Top 20 Songs From May

June 3, 2019 • May surprised us with a Jarvis Cocker reinvention and Sleater-Kinney's blistering return. And, yeah, it was really hard to choose just one Carly Rae Jepsen bop.

Sidney Bechet was the first jazz musician to use soprano saxophone extensively. Hulton Archive hide caption

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Hulton Archive

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Soprano Sax: The Story Of A Skinny Horn

Jazz24

October 12, 2010 • The soprano saxophone has never been a dominant instrument in mainstream jazz, but it's been in the mix since the beginning. Take a quick tour of the soprano sax throughout jazz history with the help of these five songs.

Judging By The Cover: Steve Lacy And Ideal Bread

Steve Lacy's "The Breath" comes from his six-part Tao Suite. Baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton covers it with his Ideal Bread band. New Jazz, Andrea Burns hide caption

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New Jazz, Andrea Burns

A Blog Supreme

Judging By The Cover: Steve Lacy And Ideal Bread

June 28, 2010 • Steve Lacy's "The Breath" is a, well, breathy yet effortless solo performance for soprano saxophone. Ideal Bread's "The Breath" is a smoky, swagger-filled piece for quartet featuring a baritone sax. Hear and compare the two songs with us.

"The Breath" by Ideal Bread

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Steve Lacy: the Bob Dylan of avant-garde jazz? Josh Sinton thinks so. Laurence M. Svirchev hide caption

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Laurence M. Svirchev

Take Five: By Artist Recommendation

Ideal Bread: Josh Sinton On Steve Lacy

WBGO

June 28, 2010 • Baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton has a healthy obsession with the music of Steve Lacy, who remains an enduring figure in jazz. With the recent release of Transit, his second volume of Lacy originals, Sinton selects five key Lacy performances and explains why they're important.

Monk Tribute Albums That Aren't Terrible

Not every Monk cover is made equal. Evening Standard/Getty Images hide caption

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Evening Standard/Getty Images

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Monk Tribute Albums That Aren't Terrible

October 6, 2008 • Thelonious Monk, who would have been 91 on Thursday, wrote many great songs. But a great many covers of his music wind up butchered by interpreters who seem not to understand it. From the scores of full-length tributes, here are five which demonstrate the good sense to keep Monk weird.