Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Lee Konitz: Live-Lee

260

Lee Konitz: Live-Lee

By

Sign in to view read count
Lee Konitz: Live-Lee
Few jazz musicians have made as successful and long-running use of the name-based pun as Lee Konitz. Sharing phonetic semblance to an almost ubiquitously applicable suffix certainly helps. In fact, that other famous Lee (Morgan that is) probably came closest in number with these sort of clever play-on-words compositions. Had the trumpeter been blessed with the longevity of the saxophonist, he might well have surpassed him. But all this is really moot when it comes to the music. Lee Konitz continues to hold court as one of the most inventive improvisors in the century- plus old idiom of jazz. His instantly recognizable alto still actively seeks out new and flexible springboards from which to soar.

Fall of 2000 presented just such a setting when Konitz convened with pianist Alan Broadbent for a week-long stretch at the Jazz Bakery. The venue remains one of Konitz’s favorite and most frequented West Coast haunts and his comfortable familiarity with the surroundings usually results in exemplary music. Past projects like the two album summit with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden, captured on Alone Together and Another Shade of Blue, being but two examples. Konitz isn’t shy about his preferences when it comes to standards. He’s been referencing the same core batch for decades and several of the perennials receive full bloom renderings here.

Broadbent’s punctuations of the Konitz-driven melody on “I’ll Remember April” start out a bit wobbly, but soon the duo finds a complimentary stride. Spooling out fluttery ribbons of notes, the saxophonist seems perfectly at home in the familiar ballad surroundings. “Sweet and Lovely” sustains the romantic mood with the pianist piloting the improvisatory trolley this time out of the gate. The resulting nimble patterning of prefatory chords spreads out into a launching pad Konitz’s crisply carbonated alto, a spring of bubbly phrases pouring in easy spouts from the bell of his horn. Broadbent rolls back into a supportive stance with stair-step scalar comping before embarking on another involved solo across the keys.

On Charlie Parker signature “Cherokee,” a perfect compliment to the earlier “Sequentialee,” both in title and swaying bebop line. Konitz fattens his tone even further through an acappella introduction, ingeniously incorporating space and an implied sense of rhythm as he suspends curlicued phrases for carefully measured seconds. These bold unaccompanied passages are among the finest moments of the disc. Broadbent answers with a circuitous jaunt through the theme, also in isolation, until the two come together for a tight and agile summation. “Gundula,” eponymously dedicated to Konitz’s wife, acts another ideal vehicle for his bittersweet locutions, this time with a heartfelt emotion prominently on hand.

So it goes through a handful of other tunes, most notably “317 East 32nd Street,” an address, it turns out, that was home to Lennie Tristano’s New York studio and “Subconscious-Lee,” the saxophonist’s calling card since early Fifties. The latter pun-spun piece encapsulates, both in title and execution, the extrasensory level at which Konitz always seems to operate. While it’s true that the man’s discography now numbers easily in the triple digits, and a fair share of those entries are duo situations with piano as foil, skeptics would be hard pressed to find any two Konitz albums that deliver the same surprises and content. This set is just as autonomous and adds another unique volume to the shelves of what is now a library of modern classics.

Visit Milestone on the web.

Track Listing

I

Personnel

Lee Konitz
saxophone, alto

Lee Konitz- alto saxophone; Alan Broadbent- piano. Recorded: October 20-22, 2000, Los Angeles, CA.

Album information

Title: Live-Lee | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Fantasy Jazz

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Sensual
Rachel Z
Over and Over
Tony Monaco Trio
Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.