Ideal Bread


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Ideal Bread 11-Nov-2010 The Music of Steve Lacy Loft/Lab Jazz Series

“Like a baker makes his bread, I make music...If I make the same bread tomorrow, that bores me...I have to remake it, I have to do better...I’m always looking for...the ideal bread.” – Steve Lacy, April, 1976 “Ideal Bread is easy to enjoy even if you are not a creative music maven. They grab your ears while gently giving them a twist." –All Music Guide “They really own this music, turning each tune inside out, never paying stale homage to Lacy but celebrating the multi-faceted nature of his music.” – Signal to Noise *** On Nov. 11th, Ideal Bread will attempt the impossible, performing the unplayable compositions of Steve Lacy. Ideal Bread was created in 2006 by baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton and currently includes Kirk Knuffke (cornet) and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. The band is a repertory band that devotes itself exclusively to the music of American Jazz musician Steve Lacy. While not famous as a composer during his lifetime (he was most famous as the soprano saxophonist of the post World-War II jazz musicians), he wrote and recorded a prodigious amount of music. Among the pieces he recorded were the free-form, group improvisations “The Forest and The Zoo” (1966) and “Roba” (1969) and the loosely structured solo pieces released as “Lapis” (1971). These were all laboratory pieces. Lacy and his cohorts tried out new ideas on the spot with little to no pre-planning (but always with lots of preparation). While these works all have an organic integrity, they are inherently unstable structures. As such, they don’t invite repetition and question the very nature of “composition.” Treating them as “repertoire” with all of that word’s attendant implications is perverse to say the least. But Ideal Bread will forge ahead with this seemingly grotesque idea. From the beginning, we’ve always had another unseen member: Steve Lacy. We’re hoping with this concert to discover how deeply he resides in the band’s musical DNA. If we truly exist to play Steve Lacy’s music, then how far can we define “Steve Lacy’s music?” What are the limits of that stuff? If the concert is successful, it’ll be another one of our great shows: interesting and stimulating music played by committed musicians. If it’s not successful…well, I can’t say any of us have seen what happens when the high-wire artist falls off his rope, but I’m guessing we’d provide the audio equivalent! Joining us for this adventure will be the terrific musicians Pascal Niggenkemper (bass), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone) and Jonathan Goldberger (guitar). Doors open at 7, show starts at 8 PM. Admission is $10.

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Exists to flavor and preserve the contemporary culture of our community in New York City through creative projects, inspiring exhibitions and unique events. We simply aim to engage our community.