Konitz Playlist

A few months ago, JazzTimes asked me to choose ten tracks from Lee Konitz’ recorded work that stand out to me in his career. Here’s what I came up with.

Lee Konitz Playlist – Dan Tepfer

Lee Konitz started recording in 1945, and he’s still going strong today. He appears on hundreds of records, with an incredibly wide array of musical associates. Lee was unique from the get-go: his tone and phrasing are as instantly recognizable on his recordings from the forties as they are now. I’m fortunate that I’ve gotten to play regularly with Lee over the past four years; here are some tracks of his that have struck me along the way.

Marshmallow
Subconscious-Lee (Prestige) 1949
A classic cut of Lee and Warne Marsh tearing up a lightning-fast written line in close harmony, something they did peerlessly. This is Lee’s first session as a leader; he’s barely 21, and he plays a super-tight, blistering solo.

Odjenar
Conception (Prestige) 1951
I like this track because it shows Lee completely at ease in the modernist classically-influenced style that was coming into vogue at the time, two years after the Birth of the Cool sessions. The composition is by George Russell, and the interplay between Lee and Miles Davis is mysterious and fascinating.

All of Me
Motion (Verve) 1961
When people talk about “the long Tristano line”, this is what they’re referring to. With Elvin Jones providing the rhythmic backbone, Lee spins out line after line, each longer and more intricate than the last. He sounds like he could go on forever. It’s some of the most expressive bebop playing I know, and a model of relaxation under pressure.

Erb
The Lee Konitz Duets (Milestone) 1967
Not everybody realizes that Lee, best known for playing consonant music, is a devoted free improviser, starting with the famous Lennie Tristano cut “Intuition”, from 1949. Here he is in a deeply contemplative mood, playing a spectral duet with Jim Hall.

Duet for Saxophone and Drums and Piano
European Episode (CAM) 1968
Some of the wildest playing from Lee that I’ve heard — totally dissonant and free, and he plays through an octave harmonizer for part of the take, no less! This is exciting stuff; it still sounds fresh forty years later. With Martial Solal and Daniel Humair.

The Song is You
Lone-Lee (SteepleChase) 1974
Which other saxophonist has an unaccompanied track of himself playing over a standard for 38 minutes? Lyrical, freewheeling, mischievous, operatic, irreverent, resolutely uncommercial, this bold stand sums up a lot about Lee, especially when you put it alongside his totally-inside, virtuosic recordings.

Just Friends
Star Eyes (HatOLOGY) 1983
This album holds special significance for me: it was my introduction to hearing Lee with a pianist in a duo setting. And Martial isn’t just any pianist: he’s as pianistic as a pianist can be — a constant stream of fireworks. Yet Lee isn’t thrown for a second; he plays with power and conviction. This track is a model, to me, of how two very different musicians can create something exciting out of the tension between them.

Luiza
Three Guys
(Enja) 1999
A prime example of Lee delivering a ballad, one that happens to be outside of the American songbook tunes that he most often plays. Lee can take a melody and infuse it with profound humanity. He does that and more here, with Steve Swallow and Paul Motian.

Another Shade of Blue
Another Shade of Blue (Blue Note) 1999
I know a number of musicians of my generation who got into Lee’s music through this album. I’ve heard Lee say that he can’t stand blues licks; here’s a great example of how he plays the blues without employing any. It’s still very much the blues, though. With Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden.

Elande No. 1 (F#)
Duos with Lee (Sunnyside) 2009
With apologies for picking a track that I play on, I wanted to include this because it shows a side of Lee that you don’t hear very often: his ability to generate perfectly balanced melodies in a freely improvised, but tonal context. There was no planning at all for this cut aside from a loose tonal center, yet Lee weaves through my improvised harmonies with total fluidity and a lightning-quick ear for tension and release.

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6 Responses to Konitz Playlist

  1. Pascal Rozat says:

    Pour ceux qui parlent français et veulent continuer l’exploration:
    http://www.lesdnj.com/article-blind-fold-test-dan-tepfer-et-les-pianistes-de-lee-konitz-43842568.html

  2. Vincent says:

    Nice ! Too bad some of these recordings are so hard to find…

  3. Marcel·lí says:

    Great playlist, thanks for doing it!

    I did not know the “European Episode”, discovered it today and, wow, what a great playing there!

  4. Pingback: BDžF – 2: Eyot, Lee Konitz & Dan Tepfer | Jazzin.rs

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