Butch Lacy

Butch Lacy (2011)

Edward Randolph "Butch" Lacy II (born April 16, 1947 in Richmond , Virginia , † April 5, 2018 in Randers , Denmark ) was an American jazz pianist and composer .

Live and act

Lacy received classical piano lessons from the age of six, played the trumpet from the age of ten and switched to the French horn at the age of 13 . At this time he was leading his own jazz quartet as a pianist, which played on radio programs on the local station. As a horn player, he won numerous competitions and was twice a member of the All State Band .

Lacy first studied instrumental as a horn player at Ithaca College (1965-1967), then from 1967 to 1969 to study civil engineering at North Carolina State University . During this time he worked as a resident pianist at a nightclub in Raleigh , where he accompanied Joe Henderson , Woody Shaw , Pepper Adams , Booker Ervin , Clark Terry , Carol Sloane , Lee Konitz , Maxine Sullivan and Charlie Mariano . He did his military service between 1969 and 1971 in the Navy, where he was stationed as a pianist in their The Show Band West in San Diego. In 1972 and 1973 he studied composition at the University of California, San Diego .

He then worked as a composer and pianist in San Diego, where he appeared with Art Pepper , Sonny Stitt , Blue Mitchell , Harold Land , Frank Rosolino , Herb Ellis , Red Norvo , Don Menza , Bob Magnusson , Charles McPherson and Buddy DeFranco . He performed his own works with his The Butch Lacy String Consort .

After appearing in Japan with the trio of David Snodgrass, he accompanied Sarah Vaughan and Bobby Shew on tours in the early 1980s . Since 1982 he lived in Denmark. There he worked with Chet Baker , Lee Konitz, Red Rodney , Gary Bartz , Bobby Shew, Putte Wickman and Bob Rockwell ; in the late 1980s he was in the recording studio for SteepleChase with Baker, Gartz and twice with Rockwell. It was only in 2003 that he presented his debut album under his own name. He led a piano trio and played in a duo with the singer sinn Eeg ; his Funny Band stood out for their unusual timbres (including steel drum and accordion ). Tom Lord lists 25 Lacy recordings in his Jazz Discography between 1975 and 2004.

Lacy wrote music for different purposes in different genres. He composed for the DR Big Band , Klüvers Big Band , the Radio Concerts Orchestration, the Danish Radio Chamber Choir, the Mad Cow Sings ensemble , but also film music. He received an Emmy for the music for the television documentary The Whales That Wouldn't Die (1980) . His composition Nordic Tones for 9000 Nordic Fingers was premiered by 900 musicians from eight countries in Kolding in 1994. For the 800th anniversary of Aarhus Cathedral in 2001, he wrote a work for big band and the choir of the Jutland Opera. He arranged for Etta Cameron and Caroline Henderson .

Lacy also worked as a teacher. He taught piano, composition, and orchestral management in San Diego. Between 1987 and 1994 he lectured at the Rytmisk Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He then worked as a lecturer at the Vestjysk Music Conservatory in Esbjerg until 2002 , including with The Very Big Band - an orchestra that brought together students of classical and popular music courses. Since 2002 Lacy worked at the Music Center in the Munach Meditation Center in Grenå .

Discographic notes

• Putte Wickman, Butch Lacy, Klavs Hovman , Bjarne Rostvold Songs Without Words (Zenith 1985)
• Klüvers Big Band Jasmine: Klüvers Big Band Plays Butch Lacy (Right Tone 1993)
• Solo But Not Alone (Stunt Records 2003)
• Butch Lacy & Budapest Jazz Orchestra, A Noiseful Joy (BJO Records 2011)
• Jesper Løvdal / Butch Lacy / Mark Dresser / Kresten Osgood Being-Playing (ILK Music 2016)

Web links

• Web presence
• biography
• Butch Lacy at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} entry (komponistbasen.dk)
2. ↑ Obituary
3. ↑ Tom Lord Jazz Discography
4. ↑ Meeting (AllAboutJazz)
5. ↑ Being-Playing at Allmusic (English)