- 286Recommend It!
- 3,078views
CD/LP/Track Review
Lee Konitz & Martial Solal: Star Eyes 1983 (2009)
Glenn Astarita
Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.
This CD reissue of the original vinyl release signifies a timeless program between two giants of modern jazz. French pianist Martial Solal
Martial Solal
b.1927
piano
and American alto saxophonist Lee Konitz
Lee Konitz
b.1927
sax, alto
are two stylists who merge years of experience for a collaboration of synergistic interplay, serving as a motivating factor here. Solal's legendary performances with Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
1910 - 1953
guitar
and other luminaries of the day, set a foundation for a career that has spanned decades, performing with the crème de la crème of jazz artists. Konitz' affiliation with forward-thinking pianist Lennie Tristano
Lennie Tristano
1919 - 1978
piano
, amid his voluminous discography, subliminally underscores the mindset of two masters at work.
With this potpourri of standards and original compositions, performed in 1983 at a German jazz festival, the musicians use depth, space, and a sense of buoyancy throughout. The underlying swing element generates the bounce and verve, as they effortlessly execute these pieces and instill a groove quotient with lyrically resplendent theme building maneuvers.
On "Body & Soul," Konitz reforms the melody line with airy phrasings and popping notes, where he also infuses lament as Solal comps and cunningly generates gobs of counterpoint. Konitz renders classic bop during his original, "Subconscious-Lee," and uses it as a solo vehicle, that accentuates his sweet-toned voicings. Then Solal communicates his dazzling technique, teeming with emotive sentiment, resonating harmonics and polyrhythmic voicings on his solo piano composition "Fluctuat Nec Mergitur."
The musicians respectively project an introspective soliloquy of sorts on the standard, "What's New," as they engage in close-knit exchanges and assimilate each other's musings via the power of improvisation. The duo closes out the program with the classic, "Cherokee." The audience's exuberant appreciation of these classic and masterful performances, transmit the duo's paramount artistry and jubilant enactments, thankfully captured and now re-mastered on disc.
Track Listing: Just Friends; Star Eyes; It's You; Body & Soul; Subconscious-Lee; Fluctuat Nec Mergitur; April; What's New; Cherokee.
Personnel: Lee Konitz: alto saxophone; Martial Solal: piano.
Record Label: Hatology
comments powered by Disqus
.jpg)
Julia Hulsmann Quartet
Gwyneth Herbert
Youn Sun Nah
Eric Le Lann
Girls in Airports
David Murray Infinity Quartet
Gabriel Reyes Trebol
La Pieuvre and Circum Grand...
Jonathan Finlayson
The West Point Band's Jazz...
The Rosenthals
Gianni Bardaro / Pierluigi...
