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" You must have the music to justify an instrument's extensive use. "
Steve Lacy
You
Must
Music
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" Risk is at the heart of jazz. Every note we play is a risk. "
Steve Lacy
Risk
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Note
" I wanted to be a pianist but it just wasn't my thing. I guess I wanted to stand up rather than sit down. "
Steve Lacy
Up
Just
Sit
" Jazz is people's music, a collectivity. "
Steve Lacy
People
Jazz
Music
" The more original something is, the more of a threat it seems until the people catch up with it. That happened with Thelonious Monk. It happened with anybody who is really original. "
Steve Lacy
People
Monk
Original
" Before the work comes to you, you have to invent work. "
Steve Lacy
You
Work
Invent
" I still love the whole history of jazz. The old things sound better than ever. "
Steve Lacy
History
Love
Jazz
" Jazz is like wine. When it is new, it is only for the experts, but when it gets older, everybody wants it. "
Steve Lacy
Only
Jazz
Older
" It starts with a single sound. If there's something in that sound, then it's worth continuing. "
Steve Lacy
Single
Sound
Worth
" If you're trying to invent something new, you're going to reach a lot of discouraging points, and most people give up. "
Steve Lacy
Going
New
People
" I was spoiled by Monk's music because it was so good, so complete. "
Steve Lacy
Music
Monk
Good
" What I learned with Cecil Taylor was strategy and survival and how to resist temptations and resist getting discouraged. "
Steve Lacy
Discouraged
Strategy
Survival
" When I first started playing music in 1955, there was just a small body of people that knew it. It was a very esoteric type of thing. "
Steve Lacy
People
Body
Music
" There is an awful lot of what I call recreational jazz going on, where people go out and learn a particular language or style and become real sharks on somebody else's language. "
Steve Lacy
Sharks
Language
Jazz
" You have to sound sad first of all, then maybe later you can sound good. "
Steve Lacy
Sad
Good
First
" Kenny G, I have to be grateful to him for proving that the instrument can be played all different kinds of ways. "
Steve Lacy
Different
Him
Be Grateful
" Bamboo is not a weed, it's a flowering plant. Bamboo is a magnificent plant. "
Steve Lacy
Bamboo
Weed
Magnificent
" When I came up, it was all about originality and collective research. There is an awful lot of imitation going on now. "
Steve Lacy
Now
Originality
Research
" I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed. "
Steve Lacy
Art
Think
Collaboration
" Whoever has an original thing to say, it is sort of a threat to the status quo. "
Steve Lacy
Sort
Original
Status
" It's very important to go through periods where you sound just rotten and you know it, and you have to persevere or give up. "
Steve Lacy
You
Through
Sound
" The soprano turned out to sound to me like the right hand on the piano. "
Steve Lacy
Sound
Right
Piano
" I've performed solo for 20 years now, but I don't do much of it, because if you only play alone, you go crazy and out of tune and play foolish music. "
Steve Lacy
Play
Now
Alone
" You can work on the saxophone alone, but ultimately you must perform with others. "
Steve Lacy
Work
You
Saxophone
" Circumstances can be very important. Find the right people to work with. "
Steve Lacy
Circumstances
People
Important
" I've been working on the soprano saxophone for 40 years, and the possibilities are astounding. It's up to you, the only limit is the imagination. "
Steve Lacy
Imagination
Limit
Possibilities
" Register is very important. Music sounds best in a certain register. "
Steve Lacy
Sounds
Music
Important
" People don't want to suffer. They want to sound good immediately, and this is one of the biggest problems in the world. "
Steve Lacy
Good
World
Want
" They call me before they go into production, when they have a prototype, and they call legitimate saxophonists, too. As opposed to the other kind. "
Steve Lacy
Kind
Production
Before
" The soprano has all those other instruments in it. It's got the soprano song voice, flute, violin, clarinet, and tenor elements and can even approach the baritone in intensity. "
Steve Lacy
Violin
Voice
Song
" Play difficult and interesting things. If you play boring things, you risk losing your appetite. Saxophone can be tedious with too much of the same. "
Steve Lacy
Interesting
Losing
Play