One
of the tragedies of the Coronavirus is the death of Lee Konitz who passed away from the contagion last week on April 15th. He was 92.
Konitz was a jazz legend, one of the remaining artists from the bebop
and cool jazz styles of the forties, fifties, and sixties. The NY Times had a wonderful obituary. Let me pull a few quotes. First the facts:
Lee Konitz, a prolific
and idiosyncratic saxophonist who was one of the earliest and most admired
exponents of the style known as cool jazz, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He
was 92.
Next,
what made him great:
Mr. Konitz initially
attracted attention as much for the way he didn’t play as for the way he did.
Like most of his jazz contemporaries, he adopted the expanded harmonic
vocabulary of his fellow alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, the leading figure in
modern jazz. But his approach departed from Parker’s in significant ways, and
he quickly emerged as a role model for musicians seeking an alternative to
Parker’s pervasive influence.
Where modern jazz in the
Parker mold, better known as bebop, tended to be passionate and virtuosic, Mr.
Konitz’s improvisations were measured and understated, more thoughtful than
heated.
“I knew and loved Charlie
Parker and copied his bebop solos like everyone else,” Mr. Konitz told The Wall
Street Journal in 2013. “But I didn’t want to sound like him. So I used almost
no vibrato and played mostly in the higher register. That’s the heart of my
sound.”
Although some musicians
and critics dismissed Mr. Konitz’s style as overly cerebral and lacking in
emotion, it proved influential in the development of the so-called cool school.
But while cool jazz, essentially a less heated variation on bebop, was popular
for several years — and some of its exponents, notably the baritone saxophonist
Gerry Mulligan and the trumpeter and singer Chet Baker, both of whom he
sometimes worked with, became stars — Mr. Konitz for most of his career was a
musician’s musician, admired by his peers and jazz aficionados but little known
to the general public.
At
his best, Lee Konitz seems to put out a dream like melody and rhythm. As I’ve grown older, I appreciate it more so
that the hard bebop sounds where you sometimes can’t pick out the melody. Let’s start with this lovely tune, “When You’re
Smiling.”
Personnel:
Lee Kontiz- Alto Sax, Billy Bauer- Guitar, Henry Grimes- Bass, Dave
Bailey-Drums.
Here
in “Topsy” he joins Warne Marsh who is on tenor sax. The subtle distinction between the two saxes,
which at times are interweaving, is what makes this so interesting. The contrast is subtle. Personnel: Lee Konitz (alto sax), Warne Marsh
(tenor sax), Billy Bauer (guitar), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums)
Konitz
doesn’t hit you over the head with style.
He’s so subdued. Here is a live
piece, “Just Friends,” with Knonitz coming in at the 1:50 mark. Personnel: Lee Konitz (alto sax), Art Farmer (fluegelhorn),
Ake Persson (trombone), Pim Jacobs (Piano), Stu Martin (drums).
Here in an interview, Lee articulates what makes beautiful music for him.
Finally
a lovely ballad, “Lover Man,” with Lee on alto sax and Paul Bley on
piano.
That
might be the quintessential Lee Konitz piece.
Beautiful music, indeed. Eternal
rest in peace, Mr. Konitz.
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