On Green Dolphin Street - Música

Konitz Was Born In 1927 In Chicago Illinois. At Age Eight Konitz Received His First Instrument—a Clarinet—but Later Dropped The Instrument In Favor Of The Tenor Saxophone. Konitz Eventually Moved From Tenor To Alto. His Greatest Influences At The Time Were The Swing Big Bands He And His Brother Listened To On The Radio In Particular Benny Goodman. Hearing Goodman On The Radio Is Actually What Prodded Him To Ask For A Clarinet. On The Saxophone He Recalls Improvising Before Ever Learning To Play Any Standards. Konitz Began His Professional Career In 1945 With The Teddy Powell Band As A Replacement For Charlie Ventura. The Engagement Apparently Did Not Start Out Smoothly As Ventura Is Said To Have Banged His Head Against A Wall When Konitz Played. A Month Later The Band Parted Ways. Between 1945 And 1947 He Worked Off And On With Jerry Wald. In 1946 He First Met Pianist Lennie Tristano And Worked In A Small Cocktail Bar With Him. His Next Substantial Work Was Done With Claude Thornhill In 1947 With Gil Evans Arranging And Gerry Mulligan As A Composer In Most Part. In 1949 He Teamed Up With The Miles Davis Group For One Or Two Weeks And Again In 1950 To Record Birth Of The Cool. Konitz Has Stated That He Considered The Group To Belong To Gerry Mulligan And Credits Lennie Tristano As The True Forebearer Of "the Cool". His Debut As Leader Also Came In 1949 With The Release Of Subconscious-Lee On Prestige Records. He Also Turned Down An Opportunity To Work With Benny Goodman That Same Year—a Decision He Is On Record As Regretting. In The Early 1950s Konitz Recorded And Toured With Stan Kenton's Orchestra. In 1961 He Recorded Motion With Elvin Jones On Drums And Sonny Dallas On Bass. This Spontaneous Session Widely Regarded As A Classic Consisted Entirely Of Standards. The Loose Trio Format Aptly Featured Konitz's Unorthodox Phrasing And Chromaticism. Charlie Parker Lent Him Support On The Day Konitz's Child Was Being Born In Seattle Washington With Him Stuck In New York City. The Two Were Actually Good Friends And Not The Rivals Some Jazz Critics Once Made Them Out To Be. 5 He Has Also Had Problems With His Heart Which He Has Received Surgery For In The Past. In 1967 Konitz Recorded The Lee Konitz Duets A Series Of Duets With Various Musicians. The Duo Configurations Were Often Unusual For The Period Saxophone And Trombone Two Saxophones . The Recordings Drew On Very Nearly The Entire History Of Jazz From Louis Armstrong's "Struttin' With Some Barbecue" With Valve Trombonist Marshall Brown To Two Completely Free Duos One With A Duke Ellington Associate Violinist Ray Nance And One With Guitarist Jim Hall. Konitz Contributed To The Film Score For Desperate Characters 1971 . Konitz Has Been Quite Prolific Recording Dozens Of Albums As A Band Leader. He Has Also Recorded Or Performed With Dave Brubeck Ornette Coleman Charles Mingus Gerry Mulligan Elvin Jones And Others. Konitz Has Become More Experimental As He Has Grown Older And Has Released A Number Of Free And Avant-Garde Jazz Albums Playing Alongside Many Far Younger Musicians. He Has Released Albums On Contemporary Free Jazz/improv Labels Such As HatART Soul Note And Omnitone. read less