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Lee Konitz duo at the Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles
ByThe repertoire, drawn from the common pool of show tunes and jazz standards, served as points of departure. Instead of stating a tune as written Konitz or Broadbent would often play an abstraction of it as his theme statement. Once they got into their improvs they would leave virtually everything about the original tune behind. The concert depended almost entirely on ability to spontaneously compose, a talent Konitz and Broadbent excel at. Nearly every solo stood as a distinguished statement, this concert acting only as a warm-up for the recording sessions later in the week. Konitz' version of "Round Midnight" was particularly moving, and both players got it going on "Star Eyes," Broadbent giving his solo a funereal feel with sequence of heavy, Shearing-voiced minor chords. Broadbent began his accompaniment to "How High the Moon" with a walking bass and for the second chorus shifted into a completely minimalist sensibility with a single note every measure or so. He took his wonderfully contrasting solo over extravagant Rachmaninoff chords. Possibly as a dedication to the recently "retired" coach Bob Knight the concert climaxed on "Indiana" with a long exchange/interweaving between the players reminiscent of Konitz' records with Warne Marsh.
There was an air of sameness from one tune to the next. The duo did play one blues, and there was nothing wrong with it, but it was the only piece that didn't take off. Both Broadbent and Konitz can play the bluesmaybe they'd have felt inspired to get dirty if the small, but attentive audience were larger and more boisterous.
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