No calendar year can ever belong to any single artist. But a 24-year-old guitarist from Compton, California – Steve Lacy – can certainly lay claim to being one of 2022’s more satisfying success stories. On the first of two sold-out nights in London, the bandleader exudes a wiry, genial presence, as befits a creative who has entered their imperial phase.
Not so long ago, Lacy was a teenager, brought into hazy Los Angeles neo-funk outfit the Internet to play guitar. He ended up being nominated for a 2016 Grammy for his production work. Now, catapulted into working with A-listers such as Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, he is two albums into a solo career – a storied prodigy who has pupated into the real deal.
