Jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz was among the art form’s most inspirational practitioners, and is considered one of the foremost saxophonists of the so-called ‘cool’ school of jazz in the 1950s.
Konitz was born in Chicago on October 13, 1927. His first instrument was the clarinet, but he was preeminently an alto saxophone player. He met Lennie Tristano, a blind jazz pianist, in Chicago in the 1940s and first studied with him at age 15. Under Tristano’s tutelage, Konitz developed a unique solo style.
It was with Tristano that Konitz matured musically. His distinctive playing was characterised by very long, smooth lines with vibrato-less sound, and a thin, uninflected tone. His style has been compared to Lester YOUNG, but was seemingly untouched by the overpowering influence of Charlie PARKER, the dominant saxophonist and jazz musician of the bebop era. That is not to say that Konitz did not respect Parker. Konitz reportedly said of their wholly different styles, ‘I tried to play bebop, but it was too hard.’
Associated with numerous ‘cool jazz’ artists, he was noted for his work with Warne Marsh, tenor sax player and another student of Tristano, Gerry MULLIGAN and Claude Thornhill. Konitz worked on Miles DAVIS’S exemplary Birth of the Cool project. He appeared on many other Davis recordings from 1948 to 1951.
Davis, in a 1955 Down Beat interview, said of Konitz, ‘I like the way he plays. With a different rhythm section, he swings—in his way. Sure, there are different ways of swinging. You can break phrases and you can play 7- or 11-note phrases like Lee does, and they swing, but you can’t do it all the time.’
Pianist Bill EVANS, also in a Down Beat interview, said he was impressed by Tristano, but more with the trio of Konitz, Marsh, and Tristano. Evans acknowledged this tie by recording with the saxophonists.
From 1951 onward, Konitz recorded prolifically, primarily in Europe, and continued working in an orchestral setting. He joined Stan KENTON in 1952, then, in 1954, he worked with Tristano yet again. His sax artistry came to maturity in the late 1950s, and this is considered by some critics to be the period of his best work. His later work shows a variety of emotions expressed by the sound quality alone.
Konitz moved to California in 1962, then returned to New York in 1964, ready to resume his career. He taught and recorded sparingly. Konitz emerged in the mid-1960s experimental jazz scene, working with Paul and Carla Bley, but soon rejected the avant-garde and began teaching private lessons by tape. His obscurity continued, thanks to the emergence of jazz rock in the 1970s. A resurgence of interest in Konitz began in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s, he began teaching master classes at Temple University. He also recorded in small groups, usually quartets and duets, with musicians including Harold Danko, Fred Hersch, and the pianist Michel Petrucciani, who began touring with Konitz in Europe at age 18. He continued performing throughout the 1990s with musicians including the guitarist Bill Frisell. Konitz recorded, but even more importantly he reissued and re-recorded music he had created with Thornhill, Davis, and other artists in the 1950s, now to be enjoyed by a new generation of jazz aficionados.
Linda Dailey Paulson
SEE ALSO:
BEBOP; COOL JAZZ; EUROPEAN JAZZ; HARD BOP; JAZZ.
FURTHER READING
Enstice, Wayne and Paul Rubin. Jazz Spoken Here: Conversations with Twenty-two Musicians (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1992);
Giddins, Gary. Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981);
Nicholson, Stuart. Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence (New York: Da Capo Press, 1995).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Jazz Nocturne; Lee Konitz Duets; Lee Konitz Nonet; Live at the Half Note; Subconscious-Lee; Yes Yes Nonet;
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool;
Charlie Haden, and Brad Meldau: Alone Together;
Lennie Tristano: The New Tristano;
Wheeler, Holland & Frisell: Angel Song.