Trumpet and Trombone Tuesday: Trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy
June 29, 2010 at 5:20 AM Today I would like to introduce you to a dynamic trombonist that I first saw perform live in the 90s. His name is Ku-umba Frank Lacy.
Four free tickets to see Shirley Horn and Roy Hargrove were given to me in appreciation of volunteer work I had done for my employer. It was one of first jazz shows that I ever attended!
I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't familiar with the artists. Well, I had heard of Shirley Horn; I just wasn't familiar with her music. (That's pretty sad, I know)
I saw a glimpse of what would captivate me about jazz a decade later. The music was alive with emotion - inferred pain and heartache along with triumph and redemption. From Shirley Horn's lyrics to Roy Hargrove's trumpet playing, it provided an impromptu soundtrack to what was going on in my life at the time.
Then there was the trombonist...
Ku-umba Frank LacyI didn't catch his name when Roy Hargrove introduced him. All I know is that we (my guests and myself) couldn't keep our eyes off of him. I never gave the trombone much thought as an instrument up until that evening.
Ku-umba Frank Lacy was like a controlled Tasmanian Devil (that's a good thing, lol) that night. His energy, exuberant playing and the way that he engaged the audience was like, "WOW!"
Who is Ku-umba Frank Lacy?
There is little more than a few paragraphs on the Internet about him. All of the sites that do reference him rehash what I read on Wiki ~ "Ku-umba Frank Lacy (b. 1959, Houston, Texas) is an American jazz trombonist. Lacy's father was a teacher who had played guitar with Illinois Jacquet, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, and Arnett Cobb; his mother sang gospel music.
He played piano from age eight, and played trumpet, euphonium, and tuba before settling on trombone at age 16. He received a bachelor's degree in physics before studying music at the Berklee College of Music, where he played with Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smith.
Soon after that, Lacy worked with Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, Dizzy Gillespie, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bobby Watson, David Murray, McCoy Tyner, and Lester Bowie. He also served as musical director for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers."
The first video below is of the Ku-umba Frank Lacy Quartet. The second video is "The Electric Side of Freddie Hubbard" with Lacy playing the trumpet:
What has he done?
He has released two CDs as a leader: "Tonal Weights and Blue Fire" (1990) and "Settegast Strut: Live at Moods" (1995). A third album may be floating around; there are hints of it in what I've read online but I can't seem to come across any concrete information regarding its existence.
The two albums that I mention above appear to be available on Amazon.com in Germany.
Mr. Lacy is also a current member of the Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra. He's most recently heard on the 2010 release "Mingus Big Band Live at Jazz Standard
Where can you see him perform?
June 28,The Jazz Standard in New York City (with Mingus Dynasty)
June 30, The Praire Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, IA (with Mingus Dynasty)
July 5,The Jazz Standard in New York City (with Mingus Big Band)
July 12,The Jazz Standard in New York City (Mingus Orchestra)
July 19,The Jazz Standard in New York City (Mingus Big Band)
July 26,The Jazz Standard in New York City (Mingus Orchestra)
July 27,Washington Square Park in New York City (Mingus Orchestra)
Aug 2,The Jazz Standard in New York City (Mingus Big Band)
Oct 1,in Portugal (Mingus Dynasty)
Oct 14,Residency in Burlington, VT (with Mingus Big Band & Mingus Dynasty)
Oct 15,Residency in Burlington, VT (with Mingus Big Band & Mingus Dynasty)
Oct 16,Residency in Burlington, VT (with Mingus Big Band & Mingus Dynasty)
Oct 17,Residency in Burlington, VT (with Mingus Big Band & Mingus Dynasty)
Have you seen Ku-umba Frank Lacy perform live? I know that some of my friends on Twitter have and they agree that he's a fantastic musician.
If you hear that he's coming to your town or city, I encourage you to go see him live. You will not be disappointed! 
Source: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lacy, www.mingusmingusmingus.com
Reader Comments (6)
On Sunday afternoon 28 Jun 2010 at the NYC Vision Festival performance by Dr. Salim Washington's (a great tenor player and public speaker) talented Brooklyn College Jazz Band, I saw Frank Lacy guest conduct the college jazz band and narrate his "composition of now" about the Gulf oil spill and dolphins with the memorable chorus line "Plug the hole." It was an amazing, passionate conduction/narration demonstrating the power of his "composition of now" concept: Topical jazz protest compositions!
I would have enjoyed hearing and seeing Mr. Lacy narrating his "Composition of Now" re: the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and dolphins!
I cannot imagine (based on the live performance that I saw back in the 90s) him not being passionate about anything.
Do you know if there was someone there affiliated with the Vision Festival that may have been videotaping the performance? That would be nice to know.
I'm not sure. I remember seeing videotaping for many of the evening shows, but I can't remember if that afternoon show was taped. There should be an audiorecording of the performance.
Good morning!
Thank you for the follow-up ~ when I have the time, I'm going to find out if I can access the audio from the 2010 Vision Festival online.
Since you did see videotaping of many of the evening shows, I wonder if that will be released in some capacity?
Two more things to put on the to-do list. :)
There are four Vision Festival performances out on CD under the Vision Festival name and there are 2 cool combined CD/DVDs from 2003 (Vision Live) & 2005 (Vision Volume 3) of select music, music/dance, interviews and artwork. Vision Festival is on the web at www.visionfestival.org.
Thank you for the heads-up regarding the Vision Festival CDs that have been released. I just saw them on Amazon a moment ago.
I will get them from the website, though, so that the money will go directly to the organization. :)