Live at the Berlin Jazz Days 1980

Description

A top-tier duo album! The career of American alto saxophonist Lee Konitz spanned the beginnings of bebop, cool jazz and mainstream, as well as the avant-garde. Konitz recorded with virtually every major figure in modern jazz over the past 60 years, from Miles Davis and his foundational album Birth of the Cool, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Brad Mehldau, to Bill Frisell and Paul Motian. The Franco-Algerian pianist Martial Solal has been a major musical voice since the 1950s. Born in 1927, the same year as Konitz, Solal, aged 93, and his fierce virtuosic technique were the perfect foil for Konitz's cerebral and introspective playing. The two had a rich musical relationship starting in the late 1960s, when they toured together in the United States and Europe. This album, recorded at the Berlin Jazz Days 1980, was conceived in part as a "Lennie Tristano Memorial." Lee's studies and playing experience with the iconoclastic pianist left an indelible mark on the saxophonist's concept and allowed him to develop a unique style that offered an alternative musical vision to that of his legendary contemporary, the altoist Charlie Parker. Lee Konitz was 92 when he died in Manhattan on April 15, 2020 from complications caused by covid 19. Konitz always maintained that he was "just a standards player," but he also stated that "My playing was about making a personal statement - I wanted to play original music." Both were true - he transformed those standards into his personal vision and, in doing so, found his place in the jazz pantheon.