Neer
01-07-2011, 11:45 AM
Lee Konitz is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pure improvisers on any instrument in jazz history (83 years old and still playing his butt off!). Second, maybe, to Warne Marsh who is no longer living. Not just now, but of all-time. I don't mean in any way to knock the greatness of Charlie Parker (possibly the greatest force Jazz has ever known), among the many others, but I am speaking strictly in terms of being a pure improviser, which few players really are or were. I have at least 25 to 30 Konitz LPs, CDs, cassettes and my intention here is to share some of my favorites (if I could find them on Youtube).
The book "Conversation's On the Improviser's Art" is a very good read--it is a compilation of interviews with Lee and many others about Lee's music. Lee is very candid and insightful. He talks quite a bit on the subject of "prepared" improvisation and "intuitive" improvisation, citing players like Oscar Peterson and James Moody as having a "professional" approach to improvisation--in other words, having a routine. He talks about his approach to spontaneous composition, as opposed to playing a vocabulary. Here is one segment where he talks about Bird:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________
"You've said that you thought Charlie Parker was really a "composer". You mean he had a vocabulary of phrases that he'd adapt?
What is a "composer"? One who puts good phrases together. When I came to New York with Claude Thornhill in '48, I went right to 52nd Street and listened to Charlie Parker. He sounded great, but very familiar to me, and I was wondering why that was at first. Then I realized he was playing vocabulary that I'd already heard on the records - but it was fantastically played and realized. As a "composer", he conceived of these great phrases, and fit them together in the most logical way, and played them until they came alive – and then decided to depend on what really communicated with his audience.
That approach doesn't appeal to you?
Of course we have to function with a vocabulary in order to speak musically. But because I've had so much experience playing, and had my confidence reinforced and encouraged through doing it, I realised that it's possible to really improvise. And that means going into it with a so-called clean slate. That appeals to me very much. Not to deny the importance of a speaking vocabulary, but having one that's flexible enough so it can be used to reinvent constantly.
Keith Jarrett stated it pretty eloquently on his new record, Always Let Me Go. He explained how he had to really withdraw from following through with something that he already knew could work. That's a very important point.
Both Bird and Coltrane had a very prolific vocabulary. It becomes licks and clichés when there's no feeling behind the phrase any more. But you have to have things to play. I have what I think of as a more flexible vocabulary. When I practice and come up with a good combination of notes, I work with it through the keys; different tonalities, rhythmic changes, etc. Then, when I play, that idea inevitably pops up in a most unexpected place.
Bird's phrases were very specific, and it was hard to alter them, for him or [followers such as] Jackie McLean or Sonny Stitt. Mine, and Warne Marsh's, phrases are more like filler material - rhythmic phrases that could be played in many different contexts, connecting one to the other…"
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________________________________
From the amazing record, Motion (1961) with Elvin Jones and Sonny Dallas. Most highly recommended.
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Of course, this lee Konitz composition Subconscious-lee.
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This is a great recording and tune by Lennie Tristano, WOW, called that because that's what he thought people would say when they heard the bridge.
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Konitz with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden, playing 'Round Midnight:
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Here is another old classic, Marshmellow, a contrafact of Cherokee by Warne Marsh. Lee takes the first chorus and then Warne Marsh plays one of the greatest solos ever recorded IMO.
nDmgTzlt2R0
All this music spans about 5 1/2 decades! Pretty remarkable.
The book "Conversation's On the Improviser's Art" is a very good read--it is a compilation of interviews with Lee and many others about Lee's music. Lee is very candid and insightful. He talks quite a bit on the subject of "prepared" improvisation and "intuitive" improvisation, citing players like Oscar Peterson and James Moody as having a "professional" approach to improvisation--in other words, having a routine. He talks about his approach to spontaneous composition, as opposed to playing a vocabulary. Here is one segment where he talks about Bird:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________________________
"You've said that you thought Charlie Parker was really a "composer". You mean he had a vocabulary of phrases that he'd adapt?
What is a "composer"? One who puts good phrases together. When I came to New York with Claude Thornhill in '48, I went right to 52nd Street and listened to Charlie Parker. He sounded great, but very familiar to me, and I was wondering why that was at first. Then I realized he was playing vocabulary that I'd already heard on the records - but it was fantastically played and realized. As a "composer", he conceived of these great phrases, and fit them together in the most logical way, and played them until they came alive – and then decided to depend on what really communicated with his audience.
That approach doesn't appeal to you?
Of course we have to function with a vocabulary in order to speak musically. But because I've had so much experience playing, and had my confidence reinforced and encouraged through doing it, I realised that it's possible to really improvise. And that means going into it with a so-called clean slate. That appeals to me very much. Not to deny the importance of a speaking vocabulary, but having one that's flexible enough so it can be used to reinvent constantly.
Keith Jarrett stated it pretty eloquently on his new record, Always Let Me Go. He explained how he had to really withdraw from following through with something that he already knew could work. That's a very important point.
Both Bird and Coltrane had a very prolific vocabulary. It becomes licks and clichés when there's no feeling behind the phrase any more. But you have to have things to play. I have what I think of as a more flexible vocabulary. When I practice and come up with a good combination of notes, I work with it through the keys; different tonalities, rhythmic changes, etc. Then, when I play, that idea inevitably pops up in a most unexpected place.
Bird's phrases were very specific, and it was hard to alter them, for him or [followers such as] Jackie McLean or Sonny Stitt. Mine, and Warne Marsh's, phrases are more like filler material - rhythmic phrases that could be played in many different contexts, connecting one to the other…"
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________________________________
From the amazing record, Motion (1961) with Elvin Jones and Sonny Dallas. Most highly recommended.
wsc3Cf1fJDA
Of course, this lee Konitz composition Subconscious-lee.
9bZKJdpbh4g
This is a great recording and tune by Lennie Tristano, WOW, called that because that's what he thought people would say when they heard the bridge.
AGZsUSfX0gY
Konitz with Brad Mehldau and Charlie Haden, playing 'Round Midnight:
LyUJBNNn5CQ
Here is another old classic, Marshmellow, a contrafact of Cherokee by Warne Marsh. Lee takes the first chorus and then Warne Marsh plays one of the greatest solos ever recorded IMO.
nDmgTzlt2R0
All this music spans about 5 1/2 decades! Pretty remarkable.