There are many good musicians (I think at times too many, like bait fish in an overcrowded stream depleting the oxygen supply), some great musicians, and only a very few inimitable musicians. Steve Lacy is one of the last category. Therefore I'm always a bit skeptical when good musicians, or even great musicians try to "play the music of Steve Lacy." I might as well try to write the stories of Ernest Hemingway or novels of James Joyce. Ideal Bread tried it and fared only adequately in my estimation.
Now come The Whammies, looking like a rump version of the ICP, with Mary Oliver and (the great) Han Bennink, and led by Jorrit Dijkstra. According to his bio, Dijkstra studied with Lacy before Lacy's death in 2004. And Bennink played with Lacy. Some Lacy cred there.
The Whammies are dedicated to the music of Steve Lacy and so, not surprisingly, the performance was all Lacy. The performance consisted of two 55 minute sets, quite generous. The generosity might not have been entirely altruistic however; one of the band members told me they were preparing for another recording of Lacy music the next day and this performance was a tune-up, so to speak. Anyway, the performance was good, and got better as the first set moved along. The second set sounded even better as the musicians became deeply immersed in Lacy's repertoire. Shows like this do keep Lacy's memory and musical legacy alive. The "music of Steve Lacy"? Yes. The soul of Steve Lacy? No.
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