Jazz Articles about Bill Lacy

Bill Lacy: The Gifts of Life

by Michael P. Gladstone
May 4, 2006

Bill Lacy, a product of Trenton, New Jersey, sought to devote his life to jazz as a trumpeter and flugelhornist but had to shelve his aspirations. He served in the military, performing in the 427th Army Band (the last segregated band in the military), and then had to re-learn the jazz vocabulary of the bebop revolution in order to stay current. Then, as a family provider with three children, he had to settle with performing at various Philadelphia and Trenton ...