Byard Lancaster was an internationally recognized jazz musician and avant-musical explorer. He was adept on alto, baritone, soprano, and tenor saxophones, flutes, and bass clarinet.
Lancaster emerged in the great wave of free jazz players inspired by
John Coltrane, but was also deeply influenced by other music and cultures.
Lancaster made his mark in New York playing with
Sunny Murray,
Larry Young, and
Bill Dixon during the 1960s. His leader debut, 1968's
It's Not Up to Us, showcased a fully developed style with a hard, edgy tone that wove modal and polytonal statements around more conventional melodic sources inspired by blues, R&B, and gospel. During the '70s,
Lancaster worked with
Sun Ra's Arkestra and
McCoy Tyner, and co-founded avant jazz-funk collective
Sounds of Liberation with
Khan Jamal. 1973's
Live at Macalester College is widely regarded as seminal. In 1979 he released the avant-jazz-funk cult classic Funny Funky Rib Crib. During the '80s he recorded with
Jamal,
Ronald Shannon Jackson, and
Doug Hammond, and began a decade-plus tenure with bluesman
Johnny Copeland. During the '90s, he also worked extensively with
Bill Laswell. Between 2000 and his death in 2012,
Lancaster recorded several albums with
Jamal's quartet, and on his own for CIMP, including 2005's Pam Africa.
Lancaster was born in Philadelphia's Germantown section in 1942 to Wilbert C. Lancaster, Sr. and Minerva A. Lancaster. His father was a chef and caterer who owned a restaurant. He began studying piano at age four, moved over to clarinet at eight, and to alto saxophone and flute at 10. In high school he played in the band. After graduation
Lancaster attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina for a year before leaving to study music at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory, then moved to New York in the mid-'60s. Deeply influenced by the "new thing" ushered in by
John Coltrane,
Cecil Taylor, and
Ornette Coleman,
Lancaster attended and played in jam sessions with
Archie Shepp and
Elvin Jones.
In 1966, he made his recording debut on drummer
Sunny Murray's self-titled 1966 offering for ESP-Disk and played in the Bill Dixon Orchestra for 1967's RCA outing Intents and Purposes. In 1968, in addition to playing on organist
Larry Young's
Heaven on Earth for Blue Note, he cut
It's Not Up to Us for the Atlantic-distributed Vortex label, produced by
Joel Dorn; his guitarist on the set was
Sonny Sharrock.
Lancaster made the first of many overseas trips in 1969, playing with
Murray's group at Paris' Actuel Festival, documented on the drummer's album
An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker).
In 1972, with drummer J.R. Mitchell,
Lancaster released the enduring
Live at Macalester College. The duo were accompanied by three bassists, a pianist, and a conguero. The acclaimed release kicked off an intense period of activity for
Lancaster. That same year, he appeared on New Horizons, the lone self-titled effort by
Sounds of Liberation, a band and social movement that included vibraphonist
Khan Jamal and guitarist
Monnette Sudler. In 1974,
Lancaster and percussionist Keno Speller issued the double-length Exactement for Palm; the set featured duets as
Lancaster performed on virtually all of his instruments plus electronics. That same year, along with drummer
Steve McCall and electric bassist
Sylvain Marc, he issued the acclaimed Us. Mother Africa, co-led by trumpeter Clint Jackson III.
Lancaster also toured with the
Sun Ra Arkestra and
McCoy Tyner's quintet.
In 1977,
Lancaster released Exodus for Philly Jazz. He led a cast of stellar local players recording jazz covers and originals. That same year he rejoined
Murray for the album Charred Earth. In 1978, he played saxes, flute, piano, and flugelhorn on trombonist
Garrett List's seminal double-length free jazz outing American Images on the Horo label.
1979 saw the release of two of
Lancaster's most important albums.
Personal Testimony, initially released by the Concert Artists label, featured him performing completely solo, playing saxophones, flutes, clarinets, voices, and percussion, electronically overdubbing himself in a warm and highly experimental setting. Conversely, just a few months later, he released Funny Funky Rib Crib, an electric, avant-jazz-funk offering with a host of guitarists and drummers including
Marc and
McCall. The album has since become a cult classic and a perennial favorite of hip-hop producers and dance club deejays.
In 1980,
Lancaster formed a duo with cellist
David Eyges and issued the duo outing Arrow. He also joined
Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society for their debut Eye on You and 1981's Nasty. (The group also included guitarist
Vernon Reid.) He also played on
Doug Hammond's Folks, the
Errol Parker Experience's Graffiti, and
Kip Hanrahan's debut, Coup de Tête. The following year, he continued to work with
Hammond and appeared on Spaces, as well as Dwight James' Inner Heat. In 1983, after joining bluesman
Johnny Copeland for Copeland Special: Make My Home Where I Hang My Hat, he cut Crossroads with
Eyges and
Murray.
That same year,
Lancaster accepted a teaching position in Jamaica. While teaching music, he met a number of studio aces including
Sly Dunbar, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, and
Robbie Shakespeare, who introduced him to DJ, toaster, and dancehall pioneer
Big Youth. In 1984
Lancaster played in the studio saxophone section on the toaster's A Luta Continua with
Cedric I.M. Brooks and Dean Frazier, and alongside the aforementioned musicians. After returning to Philly that summer,
Lancaster worked with
Jamal's band, on the classic
Infinity sessions and 1987's Storyville release, Thinking of You, but spent most of his time touring with
Copeland. In 1988, he returned to Philly and played with bassist
Jamaaladeen Tacuma on the long-player Jukebox. In 1989, he and
Eyges issued Lightnin 'Strikes!
During the early '90s,
Lancaster continued working with
Copeland, but spent some time teaching music in Nigeria. There he met and spent a great deal of time talking to and jamming with
Fela Kuti. Before returning home, he went to Belgium and played on the album A Lover's Question. Issued by Disques Du Crépuscule, it featured producers
David Linx and
Pierre Van Dormael setting James Baldwin's poems to music played by
Lancaster,
Steve Coleman,
Slide Hampton, and
Toots Thielemans, among others. In 1991, he moved to Chicago and continued to work with
Copeland and played with Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir on
The Ponderer. In 1992, he issued the completely obscure
My Pure Joy for the tiny Black Fire label, and in 1993 issued his own Worlds on the independent Gazelle label.
Lancaster's final recordings with
Copeland were 1995's
Jungle Swing and 1997's Texas Party.
Lancaster was introduced to bassist and prolific producer and conceptualist
Bill Laswell in 1995. They hit it off and began working together on Arcana's 1997's date
Arc of the Testimony, which also included
Tony Williams,
Graham Haynes,
Buckethead, and
Pharoah Sanders.
Lancaster also played on
Nagual Site by the studio outfit
Sacred System that also included
Jah Wobble,
Haynes,
Hamid Drake,
Bernie Worrell, and many others. He also appeared on the albums Bill Laswell's Jazzonia and Moody's Mood for Love. That same year he re-teamed with
List for The New York Takes. After appearing on
Robert Musso's DIW outing Innermedium,
Lancaster closed out the decade with Change of the Century Orchestra with
Murray and
Jamal.
The saxophonist kicked off the new century with a flurry of activity. Back in Philadelphia, he released The Byard Lancaster Trio with bassist Dave Gelting and drummer
Jon Mueller. He also worked with
Jamal on Cubano Chant and
Laswell on Operation: The Redesign. In 2001, he teamed with old friends J.R. Mitchell,
Pope, and
Jamal for the CIMP release Philadelphia Spirit in New York.
Lancaster taught and worked in Philly, and played sessions with a wide variety of local and regional musicians including the Alpha Boys and Mars 2 Earth.
In 2005 he issued the seminal career overview "A" Heavenly Sweetness as
Byard "Thunderbird" Lancaster on France's Discograph label. The album offered compositions from across his career performed by his trio. That same year he issued Pam Africa with a quartet for CIMP. He also played in
Jamal's quintet for Black Awareness on the label. In 2006,
Lancaster returned with Thunderbird Service, a band he formed for the release of Soul Unity on France's newly established
Heavenly Sweetness label, named after the previous year's album. His collaborators included
Jamal and Speller, among others. He returned to CIMP to issue Ancestral Link Hotel with a quartet in 2008, and sat in with
Jamal on Impressions of Coltrane for Steeplechase, his final recording.
Lancaster spent his final years playing clubs and small theaters in Philly while teaching. He was celebrated by Philly citizens for practicing in the streets and subways. In 2012,
Lancaster passed away from complications due to cancer. In 2021, England's Strut re-released
Lancaster's
My Pure Joy, the 1992 Black Fire title that disappeared just after it was released. ~ Thom Jurek