The Whammies

As well as paying tribute to the master of improvised music, the Whammies offer a respectful interpretation of Steve Lacy's compositions that retains their unique melodic, harmonic and rhythmic qualities. The Duck has not been forgotten, and neither has Spike Jones & The City Slickers. The digressions of the piano stumble, those of the alto sax stutter, and drums and bass play with a consistent woodenness. A jinn wafts up from the violin and lyricon, reminding us of Thelonious Monk's spinning. In 'The Wire', dedicated to Albert Ayler, The Whammies fall over one another in ecstasy, as in an Al Capp 'Li'l Abner' comic strip: "Evil-Eye Fleegle is th' name, an' th' 'whammy' is my game". The expressive characteristics of Lacy's travel companions are reproduced: Bishop's greasy roar is reminiscent of Rudd, Oliver's muscular scratching of Aebi, Karayorgis' prickly cadences of Few, and Dijkstra's stylistic alto phrasing of Lacy's headstrong soprano technique. McBride's interventions introduce a note of calm and clarity, just as when Avenel wanders in, whistling. Bennink's rash liveliness with its bombastic accents and heady interjections would certainly have appealed to Lacy. The Whammies and the Art of Lacy Maintenance? Or in the immortal words of Monk: "Don't play what the audience wants you to play, but let the public respond to what you do, even if it takes fifteen or twenty years."