By the 1970s, Lancaster had played with musicians such as McCoy Tyner, Khan Jamal and Sun Ra, as well as some outside of the jazz idiom, including Memphis Slim and Johnny Copeland.[1][3] Near the end of his life he performed regularly with cellist David Eyges, and recorded as a leader and sideman for Creative Improvised Music Projects.[1][4] He died of pancreatic cancer on August 23, 2012.[5]