Alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons was underappreciated even at the height of his powers, but to those with ears attuned to the radical innovations of the loft jazz era, he was a galvanizing presence. That his legacy remains under-lit is due in part to his long-standing tenure in Cecil Taylor's incandescent orbit. Lyons was more than a foil; he was Taylor's most empathetic interlocutor, the tether to bebop logic amid Taylor's eruptive torrents.
But a fatal cocktail of perfectionism and self-doubt meant that he only issued five recordings under his name during his lifetime, a tally later doubled by live tapes collected after his untimely death in 1986 as The Box Set (Ayler, 2003). Nonetheless, that makes the release of a new live album from the Studio Rivbea archives—a trove curated from the late Sam Rivers' fabled New York loft—nothing short of a minor revelation. Documenting two groups from 1974 and 1976, the album reveals a rare and vital glimpse of Lyons as a bandleader outside the gravitational pull of Taylor's piano.
The pick of the pair is "After You Left," a previously unheard part of Lyons' set during the legendary Summer 1976 Festival, which resulted in the monumental Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions (Douglas, 1977). Joining the saxophonist are longtime partner bassoonist Karen Borca, bassist Hayes Burnett and drummer Henry Letcher. The unusual pairing of alto saxophone and bassoon creates an earthy, textural blend. Their tautly interwoven statements on the head give way to expansive solos in which Lyons unfurls the full breadth of his language: frighteningly fluid, fearsomely inventive, but always anchored in compositional clarity, no matter how off piste he strays.
Borca, one of the few women active in avant-garde jazz at the time and an early pioneer of the bassoon in improvisational contexts, mirrors Lyons with a patient, architectural methodology. Her lines build reiterated figures, spiked with expressive cries and sudden jabs of color. Burnett, whose resume also included Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders, contributes supple, shadowing counterpoint, especially resonant when wielding the bow. Meanwhile Letcher, an alumnus of trumpeter Bill Dixon's ensembles, offers a crisp and intelligent percussive commentary, as well as delivering a closing feature of remarkable tonal control and restraint.
A performance recorded at Rivbea just under two years earlier presents a more skeletal configuration: a trio with Burnett and drummer Syd Smart. Titled "Diads," it is another demanding outing, requiring sustained focus. In the absence of a second horn, and with only a brief drum break near the outset, the space opens for Lyons to engage in an extended meditation on theme. Smart's approach on drums contrasts with Letcher's—more declarative and propulsive. His whip-crack snare and rolling cymbals craft a more volatile rhythmic environment, which in turn nudges Burnett into a primarily supportive role.
Lyons moves from tightly coiled introductory repetitions into serpentine flights, during which his place in a lineage stretching back to Charlie Parker becomes ever more evident. Occasional outbreaks of bittersweet lyricism, akin to sunlight fleetingly piercing the thunderclouds, further spice the mix. But unlike many of his peers, Lyons seldom resorts to high-register shrieks. When he does, they serve not as climactic punctuation, but as emotional accents.
What emerges across both sets is a portrait of Lyons as a musician of uncommon discipline and intensity—a player deeply committed to cohesion even in the most unbound musical settings. These recordings are not only a vital addition to his sparse discography but a reaffirmation of the crucial role the Lower East Side lofts played as crucibles for experimental jazz in the 1970s. In this nurturing ecosystem, musicians like Lyons could forge their paths, even in the shade of brighter stars.
