The Pupil and his Teacher

Cover of the album being discussed

Last month FiP (Form in Possibility) Recordings released a solo album by baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton entitled Steve Lacy’s Book of Practitioners, Vol. 1 “H.” Currently, the best source for this album is Bandcamp, even though only the digital version is currently available through the Web page. This is because, in addition to providing the tracks, there is a rich set of “virtual liner notes,” which are far more useful than the “auxiliary material” (if any) provided with most recordings these days.

Those that bother to scroll past the track listing will first encounter an excerpt from Lacy’s memoir entitled Findings: My Experience with the Soprano Saxophone. This is then followed by a more-than-generous essay by Sinton himself, in which he discusses his experiences in studying with Lacy at the New England Conservatory of Music and his approach to working with the six études that Lacy had composed for this particular volume of his Book of Practitioners. The entire album is a little bit shy of 45 minutes in duration, but this is one of those offerings in which quality counts for far more than quantity.

The Lacy quotation focuses on how all six of the tracks on this album follow the same structure:

The form is constant: after a brief introduction, evocative of the personality of the subject, a series of repeated patterns unfolds in strict sequence, until the portrait is complete, then the introduction returns, leading to the improvised middle section, which is based on the mode implicit in the introduction. When this section has been filled to the brim, the main set of motifs returns, thus completing the picture.

Sinton accounted for his studies with Lacy as follows:

I began working on these pieces in 2002 while attending the New England Conservatory and performed one of them (“Hustles”) at a recital. Steve helped me as much as he dared that year. He wasn't sure if they were performable on the baritone saxophone, but after hearing my initial attempts he gave it his blessing. I've been whittling away ever since. Twenty years of the same little phrases played over and over and over again. In 2021 I decided to force myself to record them so I could move on to other vistas. At this point in my life and in my relationship to these 6 compositions, “mastery” is neither the point nor a consideration. Only point-of-view and relationship-to-the-materials are.

Taken as a whole, the album amounts to an engaging study of “knowledge transfer.” Lacy had originally composed these pieces for his own use. (Presumably, this is the same situation that one encounters in études written by “classical” composers. However, in many cases it does not take long before following generations of students learn those pieces to show off their talents at competitions.) Lacy then transferred his own thoughts about his études to his pupil Sinton. Sinton, in turn, has used this new recording to transfer his thoughts to those that take their listening experiences seriously.

As one of those listeners, I have found much to engage my attention in this new album. To be honest, however, I am not yet quite sure what to make of the titles of each of the tracks or the dedications associated with each of those titles. The longest of the tracks is “Hustles,” and it is dedicated to Niccolò Paganini. In this particular case I can appreciate that Lacy may have intended the finger-busting caprices that Paganini composed for solo violin to serve as inspiration for his own étude. The other dedications, however, remain cryptic for me, whether they involve jazz masters (Babs Gonzales, Sonny Stitt, and James P. Johnson) or other entertainers (the acrobat Karl Wallenda and the illusionist Harry Houdini).

However, the act of listening counts for more than associations with any text labels. As one becomes familiar with the six tracks on this album, one begins to appreciate those aspects of technique that transform physical activity into music. Sinton has clearly discovered the music in Lacy’s compositions; and, through this recording, he has documented his discoveries for the benefit of any attentive listener.