0
Irene Aebi
Irene Aebi
Swiss singer, violinist and cellist
1
Enrico Rava
Enrico Rava
Italian trumpeter
2
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
American trombonist
3
Kent Carter
Kent Carter
American musician
4
Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Dutch musician
5
Misha Mengelberg
Misha Mengelberg
Dutch composer and jazz pianist
6
Beaver Harris
Beaver Harris
American musician
7
Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford
English free improvising trombonist
8
Evan Parker
Evan Parker
English saxophonist
9
John Betsch
John Betsch
American musician
10
Louis Moholo
Louis Moholo
South African jazz musician
11
Bobby Few
Bobby Few
American musician
12
George Lewis
George Lewis
composer, electronic performer, installation artist, trombone player, and scholar
13
Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley
British musician
14
Kenny Wheeler
Kenny Wheeler
Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player
15
Barry Altschul
Barry Altschul
American drummer
16
George Adams
George Adams
musician
17
Daniel Humair
Daniel Humair
Swiss drummer and painter
18
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
American musician
19
Duck Baker
Duck Baker
American guitarist
20
Barry Guy
Barry Guy
British musician
21
Keith Tippett
Keith Tippett
British pianist
22
Karl Berger
Karl Berger
German jazz vibraphonist, pianist and composer
23
Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow
jazz bassist and composer
24
Dave Holland
Dave Holland
British musician
25
Henry Lowther
Henry Lowther
British musician
26
Pete Levin
Pete Levin
American musician
27
Phil Woods
Phil Woods
American saxophonist
28
Sue Evans
Sue Evans
American musician
29
Lew Soloff
Lew Soloff
American musician
30
Bob Moses
Bob Moses
American musician
31
Denis Charles
Denis Charles
American jazz drummer
32
Baikida Carroll
Baikida Carroll
American musician
33
Radu Malfatti
Radu Malfatti
Austrian trombone player and composer
34
Peter Brötzmann
Peter Brötzmann
German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist
35
Irène Schweizer
Irène Schweizer
Swiss musician
36
Dave Taylor
Dave Taylor
American musician
37
Larry Stabbins
Larry Stabbins
British musician
38
Michael Mantler
Michael Mantler
Austrian musician
39
Eddie Bert
Eddie Bert
American musician
40
Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
American jazz musician and composer
41
Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart
American musician
42
Pietro Tonolo
Pietro Tonolo
Italian jazz musician
43
Paul Dunmall
Paul Dunmall
Jazz saxophonist
44
Tom Malone
Tom Malone
American musician
45
Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
American jazz drummer and group leader
46
William Parker
William Parker
American jazz musician
47
John Abercrombie
John Abercrombie
American jazz guitarist
48
Billy Harper
Billy Harper
American musician
49
Albert Mangelsdorff
Albert Mangelsdorff
German jazz trombonist
50
John Butcher
John Butcher
English tenor and soprano saxophone player
51
Don Weller
Don Weller
English jazz musician
52
Phillip Wilson
Phillip Wilson
American drummer (1941-1992)
53
Glenn Ferris
Glenn Ferris
American musician
54
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
American jazz drummer
55
Andrew Cyrille
Andrew Cyrille
American avant-garde jazz drummer
56
Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams
American musician
57
Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
American jazz trumpeter
58
Cameron Brown
Cameron Brown
American musician
59
Lewis Worrell
Lewis Worrell
American musician
60
Phil Minton
Phil Minton
Jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter
61
George Mraz
George Mraz
Czech jazz bassist
62
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
American guitarist
63
Lol Coxhill
Lol Coxhill
English free improvising saxophonist and raconteur (1932-2012)
64
Sirone
Sirone
American musician
65
Giorgio Gaslini
Giorgio Gaslini
Italian pianist, composer and conductor
66
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jazz trumpet player
67
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake
American musician
68
Bruce Ditmas
Bruce Ditmas
American musician
69
Gil Evans
Gil Evans
American pianist
70
Aldo Romano
Aldo Romano
Italian musician
71
Howard Riley
Howard Riley
British musician
72
Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson
American musician
73
Toshiko Akiyoshi
Toshiko Akiyoshi
Japanese American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, band master (1929-)
74
John Ore
John Ore
American musician
75
John Carter
John Carter
American jazz musician
76
Enrico Pieranunzi
Enrico Pieranunzi
Italian jazz musician, classical pianist, composer, arranger, recording artist
77
Dennis Budimir
Dennis Budimir
American musician
78
Wadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
American jazz trumpeter and composer
79
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
American jazz pianist and composer
80
Mike Richmond
Mike Richmond
American musician
81
Naná Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos
Brazilian percussionist
82
Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
American musician
83
John Russell
John Russell
English guitarist
84
David Sanborn
David Sanborn
American saxophonist
85
John Tchicai
John Tchicai
Danish free jazz saxophonist
Steve Lacy
American jazz musician; saxophonist, composer

Steve Lacy

Intro
American jazz musician; saxophonist, composer
Awards Received
MacArthur Fellows Program
Member of, past and present

Steve Lacy (July 23, 1934 – June 4, 2004), born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone. Coming to prominence in the 1950s as a progressive dixieland musician, Lacy went on to a long and prolific career. He worked extensively in experimental jazz and to a lesser extent in free improvisation, but Lacy's music was typically melodic and tightly-structured. Lacy also became a highly distinctive composer, with compositions often built out of little more than a single questioning phrase, repeated several times.

The music of Thelonious Monk became a permanent part of Lacy's repertoire after a stint in the pianist's band, with Monk's songs appearing on virtually every Lacy album and concert program; Lacy often partnered with trombonist Roswell Rudd in exploring Monk's work. Beyond Monk, Lacy performed the work of jazz composers such as Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington and Herbie Nichols; unlike many jazz musicians he rarely played standard popular or show tunes.