*2025 stock* Silkheart Records proudly announces the reissue of The Gleam, a landmark recording by the visionary soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and his celebrated Sextet. Originally recorded during one of the ensemble’s most inspired periods, this album stands as a radiant example of Lacy’s uncompromising artistry and his lifelong pursuit of a sound both intimate and expansive.  

The Steve Lacy Sextet—featuring longtime collaborators Steve Potts (alto & soprano saxophone), Irene Aebi (voice, violin, and cello), Bobby Few (piano), Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass), and Oliver Johnson (drums)—offers a unified voice unlike any other in contemporary jazz. Each musician brings a singular personality to the group, yet together they create a balance of discipline and freedom, clarity and risk, tradition and experiment.  

The Gleam highlights Lacy’s celebrated ability to merge intricate compositional structures with open improvisational spaces. As always, his music reflects his deep engagement with literature, philosophy, and the avant-garde, resulting in a sound world where abstraction glows with lyricism and complexity breathes with humanity. Across its performances, the Sextet reveals why this ensemble is regarded as Lacy’s definitive working band: the alto-soprano dialogues between Lacy and Potts illuminate subtle contrasts, Aebi’s lyrical intensity heightens the emotional field, and the rhythm section of Few, Avenel, and Johnson drives the pieces into fresh, unexpected terrains.  

More than just a historical document, The Gleam is an album that still feels vividly present. It captures the spirit of Lacy’s uncompromising imagination and the singular collective voice of one of the great working units in modern improvised music.