by S. Victor Aaron
Ideal Bread is a Steve Lacy tribute band, at least a tribute band in that they play the songs of the late, great soprano saxophonist and composer of the free jazz world. But this four-piece band, which includes baritone saxophonist Josh Stinton, Lacy’s copyist and student during the last two years of his life, brings Lacy’s idiosyncratic pieces to life by playing versions that often pull in some of the best ideas from prior renditions. Other compositions were offered by Lacy’s widow Irene Aebi, implying that these particular selections haven’t been recorded before. The soloists Stinton and trumpeter Kirk Knuffke employs Lacy’s directive to use a piece of the melody to build solos upon and the band, which also included drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Reuben Redding, always seem to anticipate each others next move. I know I don’t spend nearly enough time absorbing the undernoticed and underutilized music of Lacy, and I’m reminded of that every time I listen to Ideal Bread’s second album, Transmit.
- Angell & Crane, “Himalayan Dial-Up” from ‘Angell & Crane’ (2024): Video Premiere - November 22, 2024
- Michael Attias, “Avrils” from ‘Quartet Music Vol. II- Kardamon Fall’ (2024): Streaming premiere - October 11, 2024
- Bryn Roberts, “Aloft” from ‘Aloft’ (2024): Video Premiere - September 20, 2024
