Esteem: Live In Paris, 1975

when Steve Lacy passed away in June, 2004, he left behind an archive of more than 300 private recordings mostly cassette tapes of concerts dating from the 1970s up until his final months. Many feature his longtime quintet and subsequent sextet, as well as trio, duo and solo performances; some revisit old friendships, some present unique collaborations, while others document special projects that never quite found their way to the recording studio. In all of these, the same adventurous spirit prevails, the same calm integrity. this series, the leap: Steve Lacy cassette archives, aims to make available significant performances in a remarkably fertile career. It will showcase lacy with his regular associates as well as others, playing music heard elsewhere in different contexts and also music only heard just once. By so doing, may it deepen the listener's sense of a singular body of work. esteem features lacy's working quintet one lively night at la Cour des miracles, a Paris club the group frequented at the time. the musicians were in residence there for most of February, 1975, and again through much of December. speaking about the creative advantage of these long engagements, in an interview for jazz magazine, lacy said: it multiplies the favorable occasions. When you play one night and you know that you'll be playing the next night too, that changes what you do. you can take more risks.