Lee Konitz & the Incredible Shrinking Jazz Section

As any jazz fan knows all too well, the jazz section is steadily shrinking everywhere it still exists.  By "jazz section" I mean a section of jazz CDs in any room where other genres are sold.  This is no great tragedy.  The jazz sections are shrinking along with CD rooms as a whole.  This is largely because of the the fact that the offerings of music available have expanded exponentially online (and because movies are still purchased largely in plastic media).  

It does discomfort me, however, that every time I pop into The Electric Fetus ( a great record store in Minneapolis) the jazz section seems to by smaller by about the length of a bass clarinet.  Worse than discomfort, I feel morally obligated to buy something in inverse proportion to the volume of offerings. 

 

Saturday, happily, I found something that allowed me to exit the store happy and guilt free.  Black Saint & Soul Note had a box set of remastered albums by the Lee Konitz Quartet.  Each disc comes in a slip cover with the original artwork and some of the liner notes.  For about $35 it contained five Konitz albums, not one of which I  possessed.  This is a jazz collectors box of gold.  Here are the albums:

1. Live at Laren 
2. Ideal Scene
3. The New York Album
4. Zounds
5. Lunasea 

So far I have only sampled 2-4.   They are splendid and well worth the price of the box.  

I am playing 'Ezz-thetic' and 'Stare-Case' from Ideal Scene. 

• Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
• Bass – Rufus Reid
• Drums – Al Harewood
• Piano – Harold Danko

From The New York Album, I am playing 'Limehouse Blues'.  Substitute Marc Johnson and Adam Nussbaum for Reid and Harewood.  

The real gem is Zounds, much more devoted to free jazz.  

• Alto and Soprano Saxophone – Lee Konitz
• Kenny Werner –piano, synthesizer
• Ron McClure –bass
• Bill Stewart –drums

 I am playing 'All Things Considered', a lengthy showpiece for Konitz's genius, and 'Soft Lee', with Konitz on soprano.  There is a lot of Konitz on JazzNoteNSU right now. 

Jimmy Heath & Lee Konitz

No, not together.  Except in so far as I acquired two CD's last week.  Jimmy Heath is a tenor sax player.  His first album as leader was The Thumper, and it is thumpin' good bop.  If you are in the mood for straight ahead jazz boogie, this would be it.  Nat Adderley c, Curtis Fuller trb, Wynton Kelly p, Paul Chambers b, and Albert Heath d, play behind Jimmy.  Here is a sample:

Jimmy Heath/Two Tees/The Thumper

As for Konitz, I finally found Another Shade of Blue,  with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden.  It is a mostly live recording, and a companion to one of my favorite Konitz records Alone Together.  If you haven't got the latter, by all means pony up.  It is a superb horn, piano, bass trio recording.  You don't want to live without their interpretation of Round Midnight. The live album doesn't quite match up, but if you have the one you will want the other.  Konitz's sound is unique.  It's dry, to be sure, but that just pulls the passion out of the listener.  Here is a sample:

Lee Konitz/Everything Happens to Me/Another Shade of Blue

 Well, there's some straight ahead jazz for you. 

Theory & Eccentricity: Lennie Tristano

Anyone reading this blog should understand that I write about jazz with no kind of authority.  I have only dipped into writings about jazz.   I cannot play the music or even read music.  I have half an idea what a quarter note is.  Compare me to a sports writer and I would be not even a particularly well informed amateur.  I just love the music and enjoy thinking about it and writing about it.  

I mention this because it occurs to me that sometimes genius and virtuosity get in the way of genius and virtuosity.  Piano player Lennie Tristano may be a case in point.  Tristano was one of the more intellectual of jazz geniuses.  He devoted most of his life to teaching about jazz.  His structured, theoretical approach attracted a number of students whose devotion makes them seem rather like disciples.  Horn men Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh are the most notable.  Tristano recorded with Konitz and Marsh, but his recordings are very sparse.  He seems to have had a profound distrust of the music industry. 

I can hardly complain about someone who spent his time teaching something rather than practicing it.  I am political theorist!  However, Tristano's few recordings are delicious and it makes one wish fervently that he had done more.  The only two that are readily available are Intuition, with Warne Marsh, and Lennie Tristano/The New Tristano. 

Here is a sample from the latter.  It is uncharacteristic in so far as it has a strong bluesy feel.  Tristano apparently taught his students to avoid emotion in their playing in favor of a strict attention to musical patterns.  I ask: whatever are the patterns for?  Here is what they are for.  

Lennie Tristano/Requiem (1954)

Tristano recorded in his home studio, and was a pioneer in overdubbing.  Next is a sample from the same disc, this one recorded at the "The Sing-Song Room, Confucius Restaurant".  You gotta love that venue.  Konitz plays alto, Gene Ramey bass, and the great Art Taylor beats the skins.  

Lennie Tristano Quartet/These foolish thing (1955)

 Finally, here is a piece from Intuition.  It is commonly cited as one of the first examples of free jazz.  The musicians play without any score or melody; they just play.  Of course, that's misleading.  It is hard to begin from scratch.  Ask anyone who has tried to do zazen.  But it is interesting for that very reason.  Just playing means that all the melodies already written into the synapses become the guides.  

Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh/Intuition (1949)

From the Jazz Discography Project: Lee Konitz (as) Warne Marsh (ts) Billy Bauer (g) Arnold Fishkin (b) Denzil Best (d ).  

Okay, that's enough for tonight. If you are still reading, post me a comment. 

Genius Ages Slow: Lee Konitz @ the Village Vanguard

NPR is doing jazz a tremendous service with its Live at the Village Vanguard series, which I have heavily pushed here.  The current offering is a concert by Lee Konitz, backed by Dan Tepfer on piano and Matt Wilson on drums.  Konitz' alto has 82 years of heart behind it.  I first heard him on a Bill Evans album, Crosscurrents. 

I am too tired tonight to reflect on all the joy that Konitz has brought me.  But consider this sample, from one of Konitz' greatest albums:

I Remember You/Motion

Discovering Henri Texier

One of the services yours truly provides is this: I spend some time digging through the fifteen hundred pages of the Penguin Guide to Jazz, and lately the equally weighty All Music Guide, and when I find something borrowed, something blue in those vast libraries, I bring it to your attention.

This weekend, just after posting on John Patitucci, I was thumbing through the former when what to my wondering eye should appear but the entry for Henri Texier. What snagged my line was the name Joe Lovano on Texier's album Izlaz. If Joe is on it... And it got four stars in the PG. After some sampling and hesitation, I invested. eMusic has Izlaz bundled with Colonel Skopje. I dropped the package.

Henri Texier is French for "Henry of Texas." I just made that up, of course, but wouldn't it be a great story if it were true? Texier is indeed French, and plays the double bass. He is obscure enough that he isn't yet in the Encyclopedia of Jazz. Barnes and Noble has just one of his albums, Colonel Skopje, for sale. So I expect, dear readers, that today's offerings will be a surprise.

Izlaz is a stellar set, one of those recordings you listen to and feel like you found bag of gold coins. What if you had looked the other way? Texier lays down a solid and rich foundation with his double bass. Lovano occupies most of the space just as he does on the Patitucci album. He also plays a range of horns. Steve Swallow plays bass, and Aldo Romano beats the drums. On Colonel Skopje is the same group two months latter (1988) but with John Abercrombie on guitar. I think the former set is better, but not by much. Here is a sample from the first. It's a Carla Bley composition.

Henri Texier/Ups and Downs/Izlaz

Okay, so I couldn't resist a second eMusic offering by Texier: Respect. Bob Brookmeyer plays valve trombone, an instrument that I can't get enough of. I am a big fan of Brookmeyer's big band album, New Works, and I am not a fan of big bands. Brookmeyer spars with another hero of mine, Lee Konitz. I love Konitz's work across the board, but I am not sure I have ever heard him play more accessible and at the same time deeply engaging music than on this recording. Steve Swallow is also here, and he plays his bass like he thinks it's a guitar. If all that weren't enough, Paul Motian is the drummer. What a marvelous album! Everything on it is exciting. It's like a great collection of short stories: each one gets you going all over again.

Here is the masterpiece inside the masterpiece.

Henri Texier/The Year of the Dragon/Respect

I have listened to this one three times tonight. God bless you Henri! You deserve a place in the pantheon for these three recordings.