alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B t ...

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original eleme ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. and raised there until the age of nine, when his mother moved the family to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and then the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. He obtained his first saxophone in the mid-1940s and took lessons from

Buster Bailey William C. "Buster" Bailey (July 19, 1902 – April 12, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist. Career history Early career Buster Bailey was taught clarinet by classical teacher Franz Schoepp, who also taught Benny Goodman. Bailey gained his ...

. After high school, Lyons was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

and spent 21 months on

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

duty in Korea. He then spent a year playing in army bands. Once discharged he attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. By the end of the 1950s, Lyons was supporting his interest in music by working for the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

. In 1960, Lyons followed

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

into the saxophone role in the Cecil Taylor Unit. His post-Parker sound and strong melodic sense became a defining part of the sound of that group, from the 1962

Cafe Montmartre Jazzhus Montmartre is a jazz club in Copenhagen, Denmark. Many jazz musicians, including Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, and Chet Baker, have performed there. It is sometimes called Cafe Montmartre. The Montmartre was located first in Dahlerupsgade, t ...

sessions onwards. During the 1970s, Lyons also ran his own ensemble, with

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuos ...

ist

Karen Borca Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist. Early life and education Borca studied music at the University of Wisconsin with John Barrows and Arthur Weisberg, graduati ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Paul Murphy. They often performed in the loft jazz movement around

Studio Rivbea Samuel Carthorne Rivers (September 25, 1923 – December 26, 2011) was an American jazz musician and composer. Though most famously a tenor saxophonist, he also performed on soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica, piano and viola. A ...

. Lyons' group and Cecil Taylor Unit continued a parallel development throughout the 1970s and 1980s, often involving the same musicians, including

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er

Raphe Malik Raphe Malik, born Laurence Mazel (November 1, 1948 in Cambridge, Massachusetts – March 8, 2006 in Guilford, Vermont) was an American jazz trumpeter. Career Malik studied at the University of Massachusetts (1966–70), then moved to Paris, whe ...

,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

William Parker and percussionist Murphy. In 1976, Lyons performed in a production of

Adrienne Kennedy Adrienne Kennedy (born September 13, 1931) is an American playwright.Peterson, Jane T., and Suzanne Bennett. "Adrienne Kennedy". ''Women Playwrights of Diversity''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. 201–205. She is best known for '' Funnyhous ...

's ''

A Rat's Mass ''A Rat's Mass'' is a poetic, magical-realist one-act play by Adrienne Kennedy, a 20th-century African-American playwright. The play portrays the negative aspects of the black experience in the United States by depicting two African-American chil ...

'' directed by

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in the East Village of Manhattan. Musicians

Rashid Bakr Rashid Bakr may refer to: * Rashid Bakr (musician) (born 1943), American free jazz drummer * Rashid Bakr (politician) El Rashid El Tahir Bakr (24 June 1933 – 11 March 1988)

,

Andy Bey Andrew W. Bey (born October 28, 1939) is an American jazz singer and pianist. Bey has a wide vocal range, with a four- octave baritone voice. Raised in Newark, New Jersey,Adler, David R"Andy Bey" ''JazzTimes'', April 25, 2019. Accessed December ...

,

Karen Borca Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist. Early life and education Borca studied music at the University of Wisconsin with John Barrows and Arthur Weisberg, graduati ...

, David S. Ware, and

Raphe Malik Raphe Malik, born Laurence Mazel (November 1, 1948 in Cambridge, Massachusetts – March 8, 2006 in Guilford, Vermont) was an American jazz trumpeter. Career Malik studied at the University of Massachusetts (1966–70), then moved to Paris, whe ...

also performed in the production. Taylor's production combined the original script with a chorus of orchestrated voices used as instruments.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
"Production: ''Rat's Mass, A'' (1976)". Accessed August 8, 2018.
Lyons died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

in 1986 at the age of 54. He did not publish many recordings with his own ensemble, though Ayler Records did release a five- CD

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

of recordings from 1972 to 1985.

Discography

As leader

* 1969: '' Other Afternoons'' with

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

,

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer ...

,

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an United States of America, American free jazz double bassist and Keyboard instrument, keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azores, Azorean/Portug ...

( BYG Records, 1970) * 1978: '' Push Pull'' (

Hathut Records Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

, 1979) – live * 1980: '' Riffs'' with

Karen Borca Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948 in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist. Early life and education Borca studied music at the University of Wisconsin with John Barrows and Arthur Weisberg, graduati ...

, Jay Oliver, Paul Murphy ( hat MUSICS, 1982) – live * 1980: '' Jump Up / What to Do About'' with John Lindberg, Sunny Murray (

Hathut Records Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

, 1981) – live * 1981: '' Something in Return'' with

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer ...

(