Frank Lacy

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Frank Ku-Umba Lacy (born August 9, 1958 in Houston , Texas) is an American trombonist and composer of modern jazz who has also attracted attention as a singer in recent years.

Live and act

Lacy comes from a musical family; his father was the guitarist and music teacher Frank L. Lacy (1924–2011), his mother a gospel singer . He received piano and later trumpet lessons from the age of eight. In high school, tuba , euphonium and trombone followed . From 1976 to 1979 he studied physics at Texas Southern University , but also played in rhythm and blues bands and in the university's jazz ensemble. From 1979 to 1982 he attended Berklee College of Music , where he studied composition, and then enrolled at Rutgers University , where he studied musicology and African history until 1986. He also played with fellow students such as Branford Marsalis , Donald Harrison , Greg Osby and Wallace Roney , but also performed with Joanne Brackeen , George Coleman , Woody Shaw , Slide Hampton , Dave Liebman and Lionel Hampton . In New York he worked with the quintet by Rufus Reid and in 1985 he entered the Kool Festival with his own quartet.

From 1986 he was a member of Lester Bowie's “Brass Fantasy” and in 1987 also played with Dizzy Gillespie , Henry Threadgill and Illinois Jacquet , and then toured from 1988 to 1990 with Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers as trombonist and musical director. In 1990 he released his first album "Tonal Weights & Blue Fire" (which also featured his father). From 1991, he continued to appear with the Big Band of McCoy Tyner on, played in David Murray Big Band Conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris and directed in European tours, was in Munich as a theater musician employed ( "Songs From Poker", 1992). Then he founded his own large formation with Frank Lacy's 14 Piece Band . In 1997 he played in Roy Hargrove's Latin American band Crisol and was involved as a soloist and composer on their Grammy- winning album "Habana". He also worked with Günther Klatt and the Mingus Big Band , as well as with Carla Bley , Marty Ehrlich , Michael Formanek , Julius Hemphill , Oliver Lake , Steve Turré , Saskia Laroo and Salim Washington .

Honourings and prices

In 1984 Lacy won the Notre Dame Festival both as a trombonist and as a composer. Starting in 1993, he was honored three times by the Down Beat as a talent that deserves further attention. In 2016 he was also featured as a singer in the appropriate category (after releasing a vocal program with the Mingus Big Band) .

Discographic notes

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In contrast to other sources, such as Martin Kunzler or the Art Blakey album Chippin 'In  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Allmusic gives 1959 as the year of birth@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.timelessjazz.com  
  2. ↑ Frank L. Lacy || American guitarist, music teacher and father of Frank Lacy, performed in Texas / Louisiana a. a. with Johnny Fontenett, Arnett Cobb , Milt Larkin , Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Don Wilkerson . He was a prominent civil rights activist (1955-75) and taught in the Houston Independent School Department .
  3. ↑ Obituary  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / speakeasy.jazzcorner.com  
  4. ↑ Review "That Which Is Planted" (AllAboutJazz)
personal data
SURNAME Lacy, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lacy, Frank Ku-Umba (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas, USA